Nick Adolphsen of the Christian Civic League of Maine says he is grateful that the Trump administration is looking out for the people of Maine.
"It's a rare circumstance where you got to go to Washington, D.C. to have your concerns heard and that's where we are here in Maine," he says. "Our legislative leadership and our governor and our attorney general don't seem to have an interest in taking care of our young women in making their sports safe, in making them fair, and yeah, we've had to go to Washington DC to be heard. Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Trump administration have heard us loud and clear and they're standing up."
In addition to the lawsuit, the Trump administration has threatened to cut off funding for Maine schools.
During a segment on MSNBC, Governor Janet Mills (D-Maine), shown above and right, criticized that policy and dismissed concerns about males in female sports.
"There are maybe two, at most two transgender athletes competing in Maine schools right now," said Mills.
Adolphsen says that is not an accurate number.
"I don't know the exact number," he says. "She's referring to two because those two are the ones that have defeated girls in championship games, so she should have said 'yeah, we only have two who are winning girls' tournaments and walking away with a state championship,' which if you ask me and if you ask most Mainers that would be two girls too many.”
Education Secretary Linda McMahon made similar comments Wednesday afternoon on Fox News Channel. Meanwhile, Riley Gaines and Maine state Representative Laurel Libby have talked about how this violates the Title IX rights of females and female athletes.
"At that press conference with the attorney general, you also saw were two young women, Zoe Hutchins and Cassidy Carlisle, who are both high school athletes who both have competed in circumstances where there were young men," says Adolphsen.
The landscape has changed how women in mentoring roles talk to young girls.
"One of the things that I heard one say is you know she spent her life advocating for girls in their sports and kind of mentoring them and teaching you know little girls what it is to be an athlete, and she said ‘I don’t know what to do with that anymore because I don't know if I can tell a little girl that it's going to be okay, and she's going to have an equal opportunity to compete.’"
