Probe of Maine Education Department Initiated Over Men Competing in Women’s Sports

The investigation follows Trump’s remarks that federal funding for Maine will be stopped if it does not protect women’s sports from male competition.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills at a business session for U.S. governors hosted by President Donald Trump at the White House on Feb. 21, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis

The U.S. Department of Education launched an investigation into the Maine Department of Education over its approval of male participation in women’s sporting events.

The investigation is being initiated by the federal department’s Office for Civil Rights “amid allegations that it continues to allow male athletes to compete in girls’ interscholastic athletics and that it has denied female athletes female-only intimate facilities,” the department said in a Feb. 21 statement. These actions are in violation of “federal anti-discrimination law.”