Overview
- State elections officials are reviewing petitions submitted by Protect Girls Sports to confirm the required 67,682 valid signatures for ballot placement in November.
- Reports differ on how many signatures were turned in, with estimates ranging from about 68,000 to more than 82,000.
- The proposed initiative would bar transgender girls from competing on girls' teams and require schools to designate teams, restrooms, locker rooms and showers by sex assigned at birth.
- Maine’s interscholastic association currently follows the Maine Human Rights Act, which has allowed a small number of transgender athletes to compete on girls’ teams.
- Opponents point to an $800,000 donation from megadonor Richard Uihlein and call the campaign outside-funded, while organizers say the effort is Maine-led, as a related Title IX lawsuit by the Trump administration against the state remains pending.