The Maine Human Rights Commission added an Androscoggin County school district to a lawsuit that now includes six schools it is suing over policies that ban transgender students from playing sports and using facilities that align with their gender identity.
Kit Thomson Crossman, the commission’s executive director, said that Maine School Administrative District 52 in Turner had been added as a defendant to the lawsuit Friday. Crossman did not respond Friday night to requests for further details.
The MSAD 52 board of directors, representing Greene, Leeds and Turner, voted 5-4 on Thursday to pass a policy aligning with President Donald Trump’s executive order signed earlier this year.
That order preceded a clash between state and federal officials over the state’s policy, and led Gov. Janet Mills to say she would challenge the administration on the issue. The U.S. Department of Justice is suing the state over its policy of allowing transgender girls to compete in girls sports. The case is expected to go to trial in April.
“The board understands that the Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 requires schools to provide athletic opportunities separated by biological sex, biological male or biological female,” states the policy read aloud by Board Chair Peter Ricker at the Thursday meeting.
It later concludes, “the board is committed to bringing the district into compliance with Title IX as interpreted by Executive Order 14168 … while complying with the Maine Human Rights Act to the extent it does not conflict with the federal law and to provide a safe and welcoming environment for all students regardless of their sexual identity.”
The five other schools included in the commission’s suit are MSAD 70 in Hodgdon, Regional School Unit 24 in Sullivan, RSU 73 in Livermore Falls, the Baileyville School District and the Richmond School Department.
Within the last eight months, all five of those school districts have adopted policies that “create a hostile educational environment for gender non-conforming students,” the suit argues, and that they violate the Maine Human Rights Act. The lawsuit also accuses the districts of violating civil rights protections in the Maine Constitution and asks the court to prevent them from enforcing their policies and require that they repeal them and adopt new ones.
Trump signed an executive order earlier this year that is aimed at keeping transgender athletes out of girls sports, arguing that allowing them to compete deprives women and girls of fair athletic opportunities under Title IX.
A group of Maine Republicans and activists has been gathering signatures for a ballot initiative that would change state law to align with the Trump administration’s order.
“I assume that folks are aware of the current legal situation around this with the school districts that have already approved a policy similar to this,” Cari Medd, MSAD 52 superintendent, said at the meeting.
Ricker and Medd did not respond Friday night to an email requesting an interview.
Medd cautioned the board that the district’s legal counsel, Drummond Woodsum, might not defend them in this case, and the district would then have to consult with its liability insurance provider to navigate that.
Medd said she called the superintendent of RSU 73, which uses the same legal counsel, and was told Drummond Woodsum would not represent them. The RSU 73 board reaffirmed its policy during its own meeting Thursday night.
The MSAD 52 board debated for about 30 minutes Thursday night over whether to table the policy, with some board members expressing concern about being sued. However, a motion to table failed, and the policy was eventually passed 5-4.
This story was originally published by the Maine Trust for Local News. Drew Johnson can be reached at [email protected].
