State by State · Headed for the 2027 ballot
Male students are still competing on girls’ school teams in Maine and using girls’ locker rooms. Two high school athletes have now told their stories publicly, Alliance Defending Freedom has filed a federal Title IX complaint on their behalf, and the Protect Girls Sports in Maine ballot committee has re-submitted its referendum, An Act to Designate School Sports Participation and Facilities by Sex, for the 2027 ballot.
The law in Maine
State policy allows males on girls' teams
Maine has no law protecting girls' sports; its high school association lets males who identify as girls play on girls' teams. The U.S. Justice Department is suing the state over it, and a 2026 ballot measure was kept off the ballot on a signature technicality.
Past attempts
2025: a bill to bar males from girls’ and women’s teams narrowly passed the House but failed in the Senate 21–13 in June 2025 (Maine Public, June 16, 2025). 2026: a citizen initiative (Protect Girls’ Sports in Maine) first certified for the November 2026 ballot (Maine Morning Star, Mar. 17, 2026) was ruled ineligible in May 2026 after the Secretary of State threw out over 12,500 signatures over circulator rules (Portland Press Herald, May 26, 2026); the Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed in July 2026 (Maine Public, July 10, 2026). Backers reportedly refiled signatures aiming for 2027 (Yahoo).
The law in detail, with sources
The law
None. No state law limits girls’ teams to females.
Notes
The Maine Principals’ Association adopted a gender identity participation policy in May 2024 that lets students play on teams matching gender identity, gives each school sole authority to decide a student’s gender identity, and bars requests for medical records (Maine Public, May 15, 2024). The MPA says the Maine Human Rights Act requires this (Bangor Daily News, Feb. 8, 2025). Federal action: after Maine refused to comply with the February 2025 executive order, the U.S. Justice Department sued the Maine Department of Education under Title IX on Apr. 16, 2025 (United States v. Maine Dept. of Education, No. 1:25-cv-00173, D. Me.) (CBS News; Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse). The case was still in discovery in spring 2026, when a magistrate judge ordered the MPA to hand over team rosters (Bangor Daily News, Apr. 1, 2026). No merits ruling found. HHS also found the MPA and Greely High School in violation of Title IX (Maine Morning Star running list).
ICONS at the Maine State House, November 2, 2026
AUGUSTA, Maine — On Monday, November 2, ICONS co-founder Kim Jones and ICONS member Carly Smolak, a retired professional soccer player, joined Maine Girl Dads, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and two courageous high school athletes, Reagan Wilson of Fryeburg Academy and Morgan Clark of Windham High School, at the Maine State House.
Organizers with Protect Girls Sports in Maine submitted 4,836 more signatures to renew their effort to put a citizen referendum protecting female sports and private spaces before Maine voters in 2027. Their first petition fell just 532 valid signatures short of this year’s ballot.
The press conference also marked ADF’s announcement of a federal Title IX complaint to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights on behalf of the two girls, who have lived the consequences of Maine’s athletic eligibility policies firsthand.
“A historical dark mark”
“It’s appalling and shameful what these girls and hundreds of others have endured in Maine,” Kim Jones said ahead of the press conference. “Their stories are a historical dark mark on Maine’s treatment of its women and girls.”
“There should be no male students on girls’ teams, and no male students in girls’ restrooms and locker rooms,” she said.
ICONS is proud to stand alongside these athletes and their families as they keep fighting for fairness, safety and dignity for female athletes in Maine.
Read the press release from Protect Girls Sports in Maine, ADF and ICONS.
What ICONS has done in Maine
- October 28, 2026 · “Protect Girls Sports” referendum to be re-submitted for the 2027 ballot as Maine high school athletes file a Title IX complaint
Watch
Full Maine Girl Dads press conference, November 2, 2026
In the news
- Maine girls speak out about facing trans athlete as state grapples with issue (OutKick, November 2, 2026)
- Groups renew multi-pronged effort to alter Maine’s trans athlete laws (Maine Morning Star, November 2, 2026)
- 'Our girls matter': Maine group resubmits petition to put transgender sports ban on ballot (WGME, November 2, 2026)
- Maine girls to speak out on trans athletes as parents revive ballot push on eve of Senate election (OutKick, October 28, 2026)
- Marshi Smith – ICONS – The End Of Female Sports In Maine? (Maine Source of Truth podcast, October 24, 2023)