“We don’t know what is going to happen,” said Cora Berry, 16, a sophomore on the Greely track team who supports the transgender students’ right to compete. “We’re getting what feels like hatred from high-ranking people in the government, and it’s coming down on kids who don’t really have much power and say.”
Madison Biedermann, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Education, said in a statement to NBC News that Maine could easily keep its federal dollars — if it agrees to bar transgender girls from female teams and locker rooms.
“Ultimately, if funding is terminated it is because Maine refuses to comply with a federal civil rights law that stands as a bulwark against unfair, harmful, discriminatory treatment of female students,” Biedermann said.
But for Gia Drew, executive director of EqualityMaine, an advocacy group, the debate goes far beyond Title IX.
“This is not about sports, this is not about fairness, this is not about girls and women,” Drew said. “This is about power and politics.”
Greely High School was first established in 1868 and has the old-fashioned schoolhouse to prove it. Located in affluent suburbs of Portland, it’s ranked as the best high school in the state by U.S. News & World Report. Described by several students and parents as a progressive, welcoming school, it hands out awards to “Open-Minded Students of the Month.”
After Trump’s executive order on transgender athletes, the district said it would follow state guidance and adhere to the Maine Human Rights Act by allowing a transgender athlete to compete on the team that matched her gender identity.