HHS’ Civil Rights Office Determines that Maine Violates Title IX by Allowing Males in Women’s Sports

OCR Concludes its Expanded Investigation of Maine and Foreshadows Enforcement in Federal Court

Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that the Maine Department of Education, the Maine Principals’ Association, and Greely High School are each in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX), as amended, and its HHS implementing regulation. OCR’s determination letter to the three entities offers them an opportunity to voluntarily commit within 10 days to resolve the matter through a signed agreement or risk referral to the U.S. Department of Justice for appropriate action.

The violation finding is the result of a compliance review of the Maine Department of Education that OCR initiated and announced on February 21, 2025, and then expanded to include the Maine Principals’ Association and Greely High School on March 5, 2025. The compliance review examined whether the State of Maine engaged in discrimination on the basis of sex in violation of Federal law by allowing males to compete in sports reserved for girls. OCR’s determination explains the fact-finding and analysis that led to its conclusion that each of the three entities are obligated to comply with Title IX and violated Title IX.

“The Maine Department of Education may not shirk its obligations under Federal law by ceding control of its extracurricular activities, programs, and services to the Maine Principals’ Association,” said Anthony Archeval, Acting Director of the Office for Civil Rights at HHS. “We hope the Maine Department of Education, the Maine Principals’ Association, and Greely High School will work with us to come to an agreement that restores fairness in women’s sports.”

President Trump’s Executive Order on Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports, (E.O. 14201), articulates United States policy, consistent with Title IX, to protect female student athletes, in the women’s category, from having “to compete with or against or having to appear unclothed before males.” 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

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