The retreat follows a now-infamous confrontation between Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills and Trump at the White House in February.
When Trump demanded she comply with his executive order banning transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports or lose all federal funding, Mills didn’t flinch.
On Friday, standing before reporters, she delivered the follow-up: “Well, we did see him in court—and we won,” the Portland Press Heraldreports.
The victory for Maine is also a win for basic decency and due process.
It requires institutions to ban transgender girls and women from participating in female sports categories or lose federal funding.
The American Civil Liberties Union is tracking 575 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in state legislatures in 2025 across the United States.
In reality, NCAA president Charlie Baker recently testified that fewer than 10 transgender athletes compete among the 510,000 student-athletes in the NCAA. »