Voters weigh transgender sports policies in high-stakes midterm elections
Voters in four states prepare to decide on transgender sports policies as the ‘Outnumbered’ panel analyzes the upcoming ballot measures. Athletes for America ambassador Enes Kanter Freedom joins Harris Faulkner, Ainsley Earhardt, Lisa Boothe and Kayleigh McEnany to discuss the importance of protecting female athletes.
Maine high school girls will speak publicly about competing against transgender athletes Monday as parents prepare to submit nearly 5,000 additional signatures in a renewed effort to put restrictions on girls’ sports and school facilities before voters.
The Nov. 2 news conference in Augusta comes one day before Maine’s closely watched Senate election, bringing renewed attention to the issue that triggered a confrontation between President Donald Trump and Democratic Gov. Janet Mills in early 2025.
The Protect Girls Sports in Maine ballot committee is seeking a place on the 2027 ballot, after its earlier petition fell 532 valid signatures short of qualifying for this year’s election.
Two female athletes from Windham High School and Fryeburg Academy are scheduled to participate alongside parents, representatives of Alliance Defending Freedom and the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, known as ICONS.
“It’s appalling and shameful what these girls and hundreds of others have endured in Maine, and we are so glad they reached out for support,” ICONS co-founder Kim Jones said in a statement ahead of the event. “Their stories are a historical dark mark on Maine’s treatment of its women and girls.”
FEMALE ATHLETES, WOMEN’S SPORTS ADVOCATES SPEAK ON CAPITOL HILL AS TRANS ATHLETE ISSUE HOVERS OVER MIDTERMS
“We are proud to stand alongside these young female athletes and their families to unapologetically say that women and girls deserve fair and safe sports, as well as privacy and dignity in places of undress,” Jones continued. “There should be no male students on girls’ teams, and no male students in girls’ restrooms and locker rooms.”
The initiative, “An Act to Designate School Sports Participation and Facilities by Sex,” would establish requirements based on students’ sex as recorded on their original birth certificates for participation in designated school sports and access to bathrooms and other private spaces. It would also allow students to sue schools over violations.
Leyland Streiff, the ballot committee’s principal officer and a leader of Maine Girl Dads, said approximately 100 volunteers collected the additional signatures over the past month.
“Despite needing only 532 more signatures to make the 2027 ballot, the committee is submitting almost 5,000,” Streiff said in the event announcement.
The signatures would still require review before the initiative could qualify.
The renewed push follows months of litigation over the original petition. According to Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court, organizers submitted 79,692 signatures in February, and election officials initially determined that enough were valid to move the proposal forward.
SUPREME COURT MAKES RULING ON TRANS ATHLETES IN WOMEN’S SPORTS
A subsequent challenge resulted in a revised determination leaving the petition below the required 67,682 valid signatures. The dispute included 1,520 signatures collected by four nonresident circulators who had not timely consented to Maine courts’ jurisdiction. The state’s highest court upheld their invalidation July 10.
Organizers say they pursued a federal court challenge while collecting additional signatures to advance the initiative for 2027.
Retired professional soccer player Carly Smolak, who will appear with ICONS, said the effort concerns recognition of female athletes’ accomplishments.
“I am honored to stand beside these courageous soccer players to stand up for the right of every female athlete in Maine to know that her hard work, dedication and accomplishments will be honored and recognized, not overshadowed,” Smolak said in the announcement.
The event returns attention to a debate that put Maine at the center of national scrutiny in February 2025, when a transgender Greely High School athlete won the girls’ Class B indoor pole-vault championship. Greely won the girls’ team championship by one point.
On Feb. 21, Trump confronted Mills at a White House governors’ event over Maine’s refusal to follow his executive order barring transgender athletes from female sports. Trump threatened to withhold federal funding, while Mills said she would follow state and federal law.
WHERE TOP DEMOCRAT SENATE CANDIDATES AND THEIR GOP OPPONENTS STAND ON TRANS ATHLETES IN WOMEN’S SPORTS
“See you in court,” Mills told him. The Maine Principals’ Association maintained that its participation policy followed the Maine Human Rights Act, which protects against discrimination based on gender identity.
Mills defended her response as a stand against presidential overreach, arguing that Trump could not withhold congressionally appropriated funding to force the state to comply with his demands.
Now, the renewed ballot effort coincides with a Senate contest featuring candidates with differing records on transgender participation in sports.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins faces Democratic former state Senate President Troy Jackson in the Nov. 3, 2026, election, a race that could help determine control of the Senate.
Collins voted in March 2025 to advance the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. Explaining her support for a similar amendment in March 2026, she said her longstanding position was that “transgender athletes should not compete in girls’ and women’s athletics.”
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Jackson voted in June 2023 to accept a committee recommendation against passing LD 930, legislation seeking to restrict participation in women’s and girls’ scholastic sports. In an April 2026 questionnaire during his gubernatorial campaign, he also answered “No” to a question asking whether he supported a transgender sports ban and dismantling other protections under the Maine Human Rights Act.
Jones said advocates intend to continue pressing the issue through elections and other avenues.
“The feelings of boys do not take precedence in the areas and opportunities set aside to let girls thrive,” she said. “An ever-growing wave of public support exists to ensure that girls in blue states have a light at the end of the tunnel.”
“The men who want to protect their daughters, the young female athletes, and the public are not going to let up,” Jones continued. “The courts, the voting booth, the media and every other available tool will be used to ensure that these girls are not shoved into the shadows to be harassed and ignored.”
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The news conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. Eastern on Monday, Nov. 2, at the Capitol Building’s Welcome Center in Augusta, with a short question-and-answer session following prepared remarks.
