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Maine’s trans athlete conflict reignited this week with residents taking action at school board meetings.
During one meeting of the school board in the state’s capital Augusta on Wednesday, two women undressed to protest the state’s policies that allow biological males to compete in girls’ sports and use girls’ locker rooms.
The stunt came while local parent Nick Blanchard delivered a monologue condemning the school board for enforcing the state’s policies on the issue. Blanchard had spoken earlier in the meeting, but returned to the lectern at the end of the meeting with the protesting women behind him to carry out the act.
“I’m about to show you guys how uncomfortable it is for young girls,” Blanchard declared to the board members. “You feel uncomfortable? Because that’s what these young girls feel like when a boy walks into their locker room and starts unchanging in front of them. Yeah, you feel uncomfortable, right? That’s what these young girls feel like every time a young boy changes in front of them!”
The two women continued to remove garments as Blanchard’s speech continued.
“This is Maine’s capital! We should be setting an example for the rest of the state! You know what example you guys are setting? That we do not care about the young girls in the rest of the state!” he added.
A similar stunt occurred at a California school board meeting when local women’s rights activist Beth Bourne undressed during a speech at a Davis Joint Unified School Board meeting on Sept. 18. Bourne was also protesting policies that allow males in girls’ locker rooms.
Both California and Maine’s state education agencies are being sued by the U.S. Department of Justice for their policies that allow trans athletes in girls’ sports.
Multiple individual school districts in both states have passed their own resolutions to support compliance with President Donald Trump’s “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order, while Democrat leadership in those states have refused to comply.
Elswhere in Maine, the RSU 24 School Board adopted one such amendment this past week.
Republican gubernatorial candidate David Jones spoke at the meeting in support of the resolution.
“I don’t have anything against people who feel differently about what they are, but in my mind’s eye and according to God there is one man and one woman, not two different types of men, not two different types of women. Biology doesn’t lie,” Jones said.
“Don’t let us go backwards. Let’s do what we need to do to protect every single girl in the state of Maine and make sure that they are not hurt in any way shape or form.”
Maine has loosely allowed trans athletes to compete with girls since 2005, when the Maine Human Rights Act prohibited discrimination based on gender identity.
The Maine Principals’ Association (MPA) updated its policies in 2024 to explicitly allow transgender students to compete on teams matching their gender identity.
The state, particularly its Democratic leadership led by Gov. Janet Mills, is doubling down to defy Trump and protect its trans athletes’ rights to compete against girls and share girls’ locker rooms.
Many residents, and now school districts, have taken steps to oppose Mills. There have been multiple protests across the state, including two at the state Capitol in August, by activists looking to protect girls from trans competitors.
A survey by the American Parents Coalition found that out of about 600 registered Maine voters, 63% said that school sports participation should be based on biological sex, and 66% agreed it is “only fair to restrict women’s sports to biological women.”
The poll also found that 60% of residents would support a ballot measure limiting participation in women’s and girls’ sports to biological females. This included 64% of independents and 66% of parents with kids under age 18.
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