HHS’ Civil Rights Office Acts to Keep Men out of Women’s Sports

OCR Investigates the State of Maine After Reports that Maine Intends to Defy Federal Anti-Discrimination Law and Policy

In alignment with President Trump’s Executive Order on Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports, (E.O. 14201), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is announcing the initiation of a compliance review of the Maine Department of Education, including the University of Maine System, based on information that Maine intends to defy this executive order.

The review comes in response to reported statements from the primary governing body for high school sports in Maine, the Maine Attorney General, and Maine’s Governor that the state will continue to allow biological males to compete in women’s sports. The investigation will examine whether the State of Maine engaged in discrimination on the basis of sex under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as amended, and its HHS implementing regulation.

“Today’s action promotes women and girls having equal and fair athletic opportunities,” said Anthony Archeval, Acting Director of the Office for Civil Rights at HHS. “OCR is committed to achieving the promise of equal opportunity on the basis of sex guaranteed by certain federal civil rights laws that OCR enforces.”

The Executive Order articulates United States policy based in part on Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as amended, which prohibits sex discrimination in education programs and activities of recipients that receive federal funding.  The Executive Order mandates that each federal department “review grants to education programs and, where appropriate, rescind funding to programs that fail to comply with the policy established in this order,” which protects women “as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.” 

OCR’s action is part of a larger initiative to defend women and children and restore biological truth to the federal government.

If you believe that you or someone else has been discriminated against because of race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex, or religion in programs or activities that HHS directly operates or to which HHS provides federal financial assistance, you may file a complaint with the HHS Office for Civil Rights at: https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/filing-a-complaint/index.html

Follow HHS OCR on X (formerly Twitter) at @HHSOCR.