The campaign Protect Girls Sports in Maine submitted more than 82,000 signatures in support of a ballot initiative that would require that public school sports teams designated for girls or boys be limited to students of the corresponding sex, as recorded on their original birth certificate.
On Feb. 2, the campaign submitted petitions with Maine voter signatures to the secretary of state’s office. The secretary of state’s office is now tasked with reviewing the signatures to ensure they are valid. To be certified for placement before the state legislature, the petition needs 67,682 valid signatures.
In Maine, the initiative process is indirect. While a direct initiative is placed on the ballot once supporters file the required number of valid signatures, an indirect initiative is first presented to the state legislature. Legislators then choose to adopt the initiative into law or to reject it. Should legislators take no action or reject the initiative, the initiative is put on the ballot for voters to decide. If the initiative qualifies for the ballot, it will be placed on the November 2026 statewide ballot.
Under the initiative, public schools would be required to designate athletic teams as male, female, or coeducational. Students would be permitted to participate on coeducational teams or a team matching the sex on their original birth certificate. Girls would be allowed to participate on male-designated teams when no female-designated team is available for that sport. Additionally, public schools would be required to maintain separate restrooms, locker rooms, shower rooms, and other private spaces for each sex.
Similar initiatives in other states
Maine is one of four states that could have a ballot initiative requiring public schools to limit participation on male and female athletic teams to students of the corresponding sex.
Similar measures have been introduced in Colorado, Nevada, and Washington. In Colorado and Nevada, the initiatives are currently gathering signatures to qualify for the 2026 ballot.
The Washington measure, like the Maine initiative, is an indirect initiative. The measure is awaiting action by the Washington State Legislature and will be placed on the November 2026 ballot if it is not approved.
While the Maine initiative would define a student’s sex based on the original birth certificate, the Washington initiative would instead rely on a statement signed by the student’s personal healthcare provider verifying the student’s biological sex. That verification could be based on one or more of the following: the student’s reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup, or normal endogenously produced testosterone levels.
No state has previously put a ballot measure before voters that would require public schools to limit participation on male and female athletic teams to students of the corresponding sex. If certified for the ballot, the 2026 measures would be the first of their kind. Although several states have enacted statutes addressing this issue, voters have not previously decided such policies through ballot measures.
Support for the measure
Through Dec. 31, 2025, the PAC Safeguard Girls Sports raised $800,000 in contributions in support of the initiative. Richard Uihelin donated that total amount. No committee had filed to oppose the measure.
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R), former Gov. Paul LePage (R), and the Republican Party of Maine, among others, support the measure.
Kristina Parker, communications director of the Maine Republican Party, said the initiative was a way to pass policy that the legislature has refused to consider. She said, "Maine's Democrat legislature and governor has refused to comply with Title IX and has forced the hand of Mainers to take upon the task. Many claim that only a handful of trans athletes doesn't matter, however there are thousands of female athletes who desire equal and uniform standards. It affects all of us. We want everyone to be safe and be able to play a fair game."
In 2025, Legislative Document 233 and Legislative Document 1134, two bills that would have prohibited biological males from participating in programs or using facilities designated for females, were introduced in the Maine Legislature. Neither bill received a vote in the state House or Senate during the 2025 legislative session.
Protect Girls Sports in Maine, stated on their website, "The truth is, males are currently in female sports, taking female trophies, and invading female safe spaces (like locker rooms and bathrooms). This is not a far away concept; it is happening right here in Maine. Concerned parents have brought these issues to their school boards, but the Maine Principals’ Association and State Legislature have failed to act. It’s now time that we – as citizens of this great state – decide for ourselves what we want for our kids."
Opposition to the measure
The Maine Women’s Lobby, Equality Maine, the Maine Council on Aging, and the Maine Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics have announced they oppose the initiative.
Gia Drew, executive director of Equality Maine, said in opposition to the measure, "There are significant challenges to ensuring our public schools are funded and prepare young people to become productive adults in a wonderfully diverse global world, but singling out a marginalized group of children is beyond reproach and not part of the solution In fact doing so makes schools less welcoming and safe for all kids."
Additionally, Destie Hohman Sprague, executive director of Maine Women’s Lobby, said, "This is not a Maine-based problem. This is a national agenda where they have identified a really targeted community that they can use to exclude the rest of us. My biggest worry is what it is going to look and feel like to have children’s bodies and what’s under their clothes dissected by people in the public for a full year."
Other Maine initiatives in 2026
Two other initiatives were filed in Maine, but the committees supporting the measures did not submit signatures by the Feb. 2 deadline. Those initiatives, one that would criminalize the use of recreational marijuana and one that would create a publicly funded healthcare system, can continue to gather signatures and submit the initiatives to be placed on the ballot in 2027.