Augusta – The question of the participation of transgender sports, the use of the toilets and the protections against discrimination attracted hundreds to the State House on Thursday for public hearings on a subject that dominated titles for months.
Supporters say that invoices, especially those intended for the sports of girls, are a question of equity. But the opponents say that they are an attempt to marginalize the Mainers who want to participate in extracurricular activities with their classmates.
About 20 high school girls gathered before the hearings started to express their support for the ban on allowing transgender girls to participate in the girls' sports teams.
“Until it is fixed and we have a fair and equal place to compete, we will not finish fighting and it is the place here today to do so,” said Cassidy Carlisle, an 18 -year -old person at almost Isle High School.
The Judicial Committee has provided for a day -long hearing on eight bills related to transgender rights, attracting many people on both sides.
Gia Drew, executive director of Equalitymaine, said that her message to legislators is that the people most affected by invoices are adolescents, many of whom are already in difficulty.
“One of the most important things we want to emphasize today is that we are talking about children, we assure that children have been able to go to school, practice sport with their friends, acquire precious skills, it is really important,” she said.
Maine's policy to authorize transgender girls to participate in sports for girls won the state under national spotlights in February following a very publicized exchange between President Donald Trump and Governor Janet Mills.
Opponents of bills aimed at limiting transgender rights have a banner at State House outside the courtroom of the judicial committee on Thursday. (Spectrum News / Susan Cover)
The exchange in which Trump told Mills that he would refuse all federal funds if she did not comply with his decree prohibiting transgender sports participation ending in Mills saying that she would see him in court.
Mills said that the question did not concern the participation of transgender sports, but if the president has the power to interpret federal law and to punish those he judges without compliance.
The question remained in the news after a vote at the Maine House to censor the representative Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) for an article on social networks in which she used two photos of a transgender athlete of the secondary school which won a state sports championship to highlight her opposition to authorize her transgender girls to compete.
Libby refused the opportunity to apologize for the position and has not been authorized to vote in the room since February. She continued the lecturer of the Chamber, Ryan Fecteau (D-Biddeford) to recover her voting rights and asked the United States Supreme Court to intervene on his behalf.
Then in mid-April, the US Ministry of Justice continued the Maine Ministry of Education, claiming that state policy on the participation of transgender sports violates the federal law on title IX which prohibits discrimination based on sex.
“By prioritizing gender identity on biological reality, Maine's policies deprive the athletes of equitable competition girls, refuse them equal sporting opportunities and expose them to increased risks of physical injuries and psychological damage”, according to the costume.
Representative Liz Caruso (R-Caratunk) said that if her invoice, LD 868 was promulgated, she would bring Maine in accordance with title IX. She said that she was modeled on the laws in place in more than 20 other states.
Caruso's bill requires Maine public schools to designate sports as men, women or mixed. It prohibits transgender girls from participating in the sports of girls and requires toilets, changing rooms and dormitories to be used only by men or women.
Regarding public opinion, 64% of mainers believe that transgender female athletes should not be authorized to compete in female sports, according to the New Hampshire survey center of the University of New Hampshire.
Other bills seek to remove the gender identity from the Maine Human Rights Act, a protected class added 20 years ago. If gender identity is deleted, this would mean the loss of protections against discrimination in housing, employment and education for those who are transgender.
Mary Bonauto, a lawyer at GLBTQ, legal defenders and defenders, said that she thought that most of the Mainers wanted to continue the protections put in place for the Transgender community.
“We cannot just give up and pretend trans people are not part of our communities and that is really what these laws do,” she said. “We have never said in Maine that we are just going to take a group of people who are our neighbors and say that you do not count.”
