Article Title: Trump Pushes for New Rules on Transgender Athletes in Maine
Keywords: Trump, Maine governor, Janet Mills, transgender athletes, sports, Title IX, gender identity, athletic competition
Tags: politics, trump, maine, governor, janet-mills, transgender, sports, athletic-competition, gender-identity, title-ix, gender-equality, human-rights
Summary: President Trump is urging Maine Governor Janet Mills to change her decision and support new rules that would ban transgender girls and women from playing on sports teams for K-12 schools that correspond with their gender identity. This move comes after Maine’s Board of Education proposed new rules in February related to transgender students participation in school sports. The rules were expected to be approved, but Governor Mills issued a “temporary” moratorium which prevented the rules from going into effect. President Trump has also indicated that he would like Title IX, the landmark law that prohibits sex-based) discrimination, to no longer be interpreted as including gender identity. The move raises questions about whether it is a slippery slope towards a rollback of human rights for gay or transgender people. The article notes that Maine is just the most recent battleground for these policies, with nearly 100 other cases before various state and federal courts. The article also highlights the dissonance between the actions of basketball coach Dawn Staley and President Trump. Staley said of transgender people, “If they want to play with us, welcome aboard,” while Trump said he would issue an order to ban them from women’s sports, telling a rally that “young girls and women deserve to compete on a level playing field.” Finally, it’s important to note that confirmation of President Trump’s claim of possibility around such a ban is currently not fully realized; he is simply contemplating on such a form as part of the continued struggle with human rights for marginalized populations.
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