'Maine Continues To Willfully Violate Title IX': Linda McMahon Promotes Suit Over Trans Sports Inclusion

Forbes Breaking News

Education Sec. Linda McMahon promotes a DOJ lawsuit against Maine's Department of Education over the inclusion of transgender athletes in women's sports.

Transcript

00:00Good morning, everyone. I don't think our case could have been stated any better

00:06than it was just presented by our Attorney General, Pam Bondi. And I thank you very much

00:13for your participation this morning. And I will echo Attorney General's comments about how brave

00:20these women are, these young women. And of course, Riley Gaines has been a staunch advocate for the

00:26Title IX infractions, you know, since she came on board. And we're so proud to have Riley out there

00:33as such a prominent spokesperson. So today we're announcing a weighty development in the Title IX

00:39investigation into the Maine Department of Education. We analyzed, we, the Department of

00:45Education, analyzed Maine's Education Department for compliance with Title IX of the Education

00:51Amendments of 1972, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or education

00:58program that receives federal funding. Unfortunately, our investigation has found

01:05that Maine continues to willfully violate Title IX and to strip the civil rights of female athletes

01:13in the state. And as Pam alluded as well, it's not just about their civil rights. It's about their

01:21safety. And we, after our investigation, we found we really had no other choice. We thought the

01:29infractions warranted turning them over to the Just Department for their further investigation. So how do we

01:36get here? On February 5th, President Trump signed the executive order, Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports,

01:43which directed all states and educational programs receiving federal funds to cease the practice

01:51of allowing males to compete in sports programs for women. They didn't make this up. This is the law.

01:59This is Title IX. This executive order was aimed at protecting women like Fencer, Stephanie Turner,

02:05or volleyball player, Peyton McNabb, from being injured and unfairly outmatched by male athletes.

02:14President Trump didn't pull any punches. He explicitly warned Maine and Governor Janet Mills

02:19that Maine would risk losing federal funding if it continued to allow males to participate in women's

02:27sports. Governor Mills chose to openly flout Title IX compliance, telling President Trump, and I'll repeat

02:34what the general said, we'll see you in court, and obviously we are going to. That same day, our Office

02:41for Civil Rights opened an investigation into the Maine Department of Education and Maine School

02:46Administrative District No. 51 for permitting males and girls sports and denying female-only intimate

02:55facilities. The department's investigation confirmed Maine's Title IX violations, and we offered Maine leaders

03:01multiple opportunities to change their policy and to protect women in sports, and they have refused.

03:09So now as DOJ begins their enforcement actions, I hope Governor Mills will recognize that her political

03:16feud with the president will deprive the students in her state of much more than the right to fair sporting

03:24events. After all, compliance with federal civil rights law is a universal prerequisite for receiving federal

03:33funding. The Trump administration could not be any clearer to all states, sports leagues, and educational

03:40institutions. We take the violations of women's civil rights very seriously. I have three granddaughters, and I want to

03:49make sure that they are treated fairly and that they aren't exposed in dressing rooms. We want to make sure that if you open

03:59women's sports or intimate facilities to males, you expose yourself to federal rights, federal civil rights

04:07investigations. Governor Mills will definitely get her wish. We thank you all for being here this morning. Look forward to

04:15seeing you later.

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