In 1972 Title IX was enacted under equal rights legislation to give girls and women equal rights to compete in sports with other girls and women. And guarantee female teams would be available at schools for them. It was about a level playing field for females. It was backed with federal funds for these programs. This of course long before transgender Americans became an issue.
I think everyone would agree this has been a tremendous boom for female sports giving females fair competition competing with other females. Just look at the number of sports opportunities for females before Title IX in 1972 and now.
Now Gov. Janet Mills is resisting a Trump administration mandate to keep transgender girls out of female sports. In a recent poll, 64 percent of Maine residents do not want transgender athletes competing in female sports, while only 29 percent say it’s OK. According to the BDN, there are 45,000 athletes in 151 public and private schools. It stated that, between 2013 and 2021, only 56 were trans athletes with only four trans females. Were the other 52, trans males? Did they compete in male sports? That would be 52 trans males competing with males on male teams?
In a democracy, I believe the 64 percent would be heard, but we are a democratic republic where elected representatives apparently do what they want, not necessarily what the people want. I believe Rep. Laurel Libby speaks up for the 64 percent and gets reprimanded by her Democratic Maine House.
I believe that the Democrats in Augusta should listen to two-thirds of the citizens of Maine and comply with President Donald Trump’s orders on Title IX because that is what Maine citizens want and because I believe it is the right thing to do for our girls and women of Maine.
Dean Curtis
Hampden
