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Maine’s trans athlete conflict was reignited this week as residents took action at school board meetings.
During a school board meeting in Augusta, the state capital, on Wednesday, two women stripped naked to protest state policies that allow biological males to compete in women’s sports and use girls’ locker rooms.
The stunt came as local parent Nick Blanchard delivered a monologue condemning the school board for enforcing state policies on the issue. Blanchard had spoken earlier in the meeting, but returned to the lectern at the end of the meeting with the women protesters behind him to carry out the event.
“I’m about to show you how uncomfortable it is for young women,” Blanchard told board members. “Do you feel uncomfortable? Because that’s what these young girls feel when a boy walks into their locker room and starts changing in front of them. Yes, you feel uncomfortable, right? That’s what these young girls feel every time a young man changes in front of them!”
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Two women strip naked at a school board meeting in Augusta, Maine, to protest trans athletes in women’s sports. (Augusta Schools)
The two women continued to remove their clothes as Blanchard’s speech continued.
“This is the capital of Maine! We should set an example for the rest of the state! Do you know what example you guys are setting? That we don’t care about the young women in the rest of the state!” he added.
A similar stunt occurred at a California school board meeting when local women’s rights activist Beth Bourne stripped naked during a speech at Davis Joint Unified. school board meeting on September 18. Bourne was also protesting policies that allow men into girls’ locker rooms.
Both California and Maine state education agencies are being sued by the US Department of Justice for their policies allowing trans athletes in women’s sports.
MAINE GIRL INVOLVED IN BATTLE OF TRANS ATHLETES REVEALS HOW STATE POLICIES HURT HER CHILDHOOD AND HER SPORTS CAREER
Multiple individual school districts in both states have passed their own resolutions to support compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive order “Keep Men Out of Women’s Sports,” while Democratic leaders in those states have refused to comply.
Elsewhere in Maine, RSU School Board 24 adopted one of those amendments last week.
Republican gubernatorial candidate David Jones spoke at the meeting in support of the resolution.
“I have nothing against people who feel differently about who they are, but in my mind and according to God there is a man and a woman, not two different types of men, not two different types of women. Biology doesn’t lie,” Jones said.
“Let’s not let them go backwards. Let’s do whatever it takes to protect every girl in the state of Maine and make sure they don’t come to harm.”
Maine has loosely allowed trans athletes to compete with girls since 2005, when the Maine Human Rights Act banned discrimination based on gender identity.
The Maine Principals Association (MPA) updated its policies in 2024 to explicitly allow transgender students to compete on teams that match their gender identity.
The state, particularly its Democratic leadership led by Gov. Janet Mills, is doubling down to challenge Trump and protect the rights of its trans athletes to compete against girls and share girls’ locker rooms.
Many residents, and now school districts, have taken steps to oppose Mills. There have been multiple protests across the state, including two at the state Capitol in August, by activists seeking to protect girls from trans competitors.
TO survey by The American Parents Coalition found that of approximately 600 registered voters in Maine, 63% said participation in school sports should be based on biological sex, and 66% agreed that “it is fair to restrict women’s sports to biological women.”
The poll also found that 60% of residents would support a ballot measure that limited turnout. in women’s and girls’ sports for biological females. This included 64% of self-employed people and 66% of parents with children under 18 years of age.
