At a press briefing, AG Pam Bondi detailed the DOJ lawsuit against Maine's Department of Education due to its inclusion policy pertaining to transgender athletes in women's sports.
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00:00Good morning.
00:18With me here today, I have our great Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon,
00:25Representative Laurel Libby of the Maine State House, Linnea Saltz of IWF Women's Sports
00:35Advocate, Stephanie Turner, a fencer, Zoe Hutchison, a Maine athlete, Cassidy Carlisle,
00:42a Maine athlete, and my dear friend, you all know, Riley Gaines, who has been a champion
00:48on this issue for women.
01:20This is about sports.
01:22This is also about these young women's personal safety.
01:25I met many of these women throughout the past weeks and months, and what they have been through
01:32is horrific.
01:33We have exhausted every other remedy.
01:40We tried to get Maine to comply.
01:43We don't like standing up here and filing lawsuits.
01:46We want to get states to comply with us.
01:49That's what this is about.
01:51We have repeatedly notified Maine of its infractions and urged them to remedy the situation to protect
01:58women.
01:59We've stripped grants from Maine through other departments, and we are going to continue to fight for women.
02:11Let me give you some examples.
02:12Let me give you a timeline.
02:13This timeline, I think, is pretty important.
02:16So in February 2024, these are just a few examples.
02:23A biological boy started competing in women's ski races and cross-country races in Maine.
02:29He came in first in the 5K with a time that would have been 43rd among men.
02:37In February 2025, a biological boy won first place in the pole vaulting competition in Maine's indoor track
02:48and field meet.
02:49He beat every other girl by a significant margin.
02:55That qualified him for regional championships.
02:58That took a spot away from a young woman in women's sports.
03:03Shame on him.
03:07February 21st, 2025, President Trump has the governors at the White House.
03:13President Trump has the exchange with Janet Mills.
03:16He asked her about the issue.
03:19Her response, we'll see you in court.
03:22Well, we still didn't sue.
03:24HHS and the Department of Ed opened investigations in an attempt to get them to comply.
03:32They both found violations.
03:34And in March, Maine refused to comply.
03:45I want to read you this letter.
03:46This is from the Maine Attorney General to the Department of Education.
04:02We will not sign the resolution agreement.
04:05We do not have revisions or a counterproposal.
04:08We agree we are at an impasse.
04:12Nothing in Title IX or its implementing regulations prohibits schools from allowing transgender girls and women to participate on girls and women's sports teams.
04:27Well, they must not be reading the same Title IX that we're reading.
04:30We believe they are failing to protect women, and it's not only an issue in sports.
04:40It is a public safety issue.
04:42These boys are allowed to go in women's restrooms.
04:46They are allowed to go in women's dressing rooms and get fully naked and change in biological boys and change clothes in front of these young women.
05:00Maine's leadership has refused to comply at every turn.
05:03So now we have no other choice.
05:06We are taking them to court.
05:09What we are seeking, we are seeking an injunction to get them to stop this, stop what they're doing.
05:21That's pretty simple.
05:23And we are seeking to have the titles returned to the young women who rightfully won these sports.
05:33And we are also considering whether to retroactively pull all the funding that they have received for not complying in the past.
05:45And I am so proud of these brave young women standing behind me.
05:50I see lots of parents in the front, too, and I've met you.
05:54Thank you to the parents for supporting your daughters and telling them it's okay to fight back and stand up for what they believe in.
06:02Some of these young women have endured vicious injuries, too, as a result of boys playing in their sports.
06:11It's my honor now to introduce to you our Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon.