Maine Releases Draft Ballot Question on School Sports and Facilities by Sex

Overview

• The Secretary of State’s Office released the draft wording Tuesday and opened a public comment window through 5 p.m. on May 7, with final ballot language due by May 28 and a Nov. 3 vote possible unless lawmakers pass the measure first.
• As drafted, the question reads: "Do you want to change civil rights and education laws to require public schools to restrict access to bathrooms and sports based on the gender on the child’s original birth certificate and allow students to sue the schools?"
• If approved, the initiative would require schools to assign teams, bathrooms and locker rooms by sex listed on a child’s original birth certificate, keep separate male, female and coed teams, allow girls to join a boys team if no girls team exists, and create a right for students to sue schools.
• The petition’s place on the ballot is being challenged in court over alleged signature flaws, and the sponsoring group Protect Girls Sports in Maine has moved to intervene so it can defend how it gathered signatures.
• A separate U.S. Justice Department Title IX case against Maine is moving toward trial later this year, testing federal claims about girls’ sports while state law continues to ban discrimination based on gender identity.