This story will be updated.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Monday announced a southern Maine high school and the governing body for school sports in Maine are in violation of Title IX.
Last month HHS found the Maine Department of Education was in violation of Title IX for allowing transgender girls to compete in girls’ sports. The federal department’s Monday announcement said it also found Greely High School in Cumberland and the Maine Principals’ Association are in violation of the landmark 1972 law that bars sex-based discrimination in schools.
The Bangor Daily News reported earlier this month that HHS informed the state on Feb. 25 that it had found the state education department in violation. The federal department expanded its investigation on March 5 to include Greely High School and the MPA.
The investigation appeared to stem from a social media post by Maine Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, in February that singled out a transgender athlete at Greely High School and drew outrage and media attention from across the country.
The post also caught the eye of President Donald Trump, who had signed an executive order a couple weeks after his inauguration saying he would withhold federal funds from educational programs that allow transgender girls and women to compete in girls’ and women’s sports.
HHS said the investigation is to “protect female student athletes, in the women’s category, from having to compete with or against or having to appear unclothed before males.”
The Maine Principals’ Association, which runs school athletic competitions, has stated that the executive order is in conflict with the Maine Human Rights Act. The association has previously said it will continue to allow transgender athletes to compete on the teams aligned with their gender identity in accordance with state law.
In addition to HHS, five other federal agencies are investigating or have targeted Maine, despite only two transgender athletes competing in the state this school year, according to the principals’ association.
