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Maine’s trans athlete conflict reignited this week with residents taking action at school board meetings.
At a school board meeting in Augusta, the state capital, on Wednesday, two women stripped naked to protest state policies allowing biological males to compete in girls’ 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 female protesters behind him to perform the act.
“I’m about to show you how uncomfortable this is for young girls,” Blanchard told board members. “You feel uncomfortable? Because that’s what these young girls feel when a boy walks into their locker room and starts not changing in front of them. Yeah, you feel uncomfortable, right? That’s what these young girls feel every time a young boy changes in front of them!”
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Two women strip naked during a school board meeting in Augusta, Maine, to protest trans athletes in women’s sports. (Augusta Schools)
Both 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! You know what example you’re setting? That we don’t care about young girls 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 allowing men into girls’ locker rooms.
State education agencies in California and Maine are being sued by the U.S. Department of Justice over their policies allowing trans athletes to play women’s sports.
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Several 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, the RSU 24 school board adopted one of these amendments last week.
Republican gubernatorial candidate David Jones spoke at the meeting in support of the resolution.
“I have nothing against people feeling differently about who they are, but in my mind and according to God, there is one man and one woman, not two different types of men, not two different types of women. Biology doesn’t lie,” Jones said.
“Let’s not back down. Let’s do what we need to do to protect every girl in the state of Maine and make sure they’re not harmed in any way.”
Maine has loosely allowed trans athletes to compete with girls since 2005, when Maine’s human rights law prohibited discrimination based on gender identity.
The Maine Principals’ Association (MPA) updated its policies in 2024 to explicitly allow transgender students to compete on teams matching their gender identity.
The state, particularly its Democratic leaders led by Gov. Janet Mills, is doubling down on efforts to defy 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 action to oppose Mills. There have been numerous protests across the state, including two at the state Capitol in August, by activists seeking to protect girls from trans competitors.
A investigation by The American Parents Coalition found that of about 600 registered voters in Maine, 63% said participation in school sports should be based on biological sex, and 66% agreed it was “right to limit women’s sports to biological females.”
The poll also found that 60% of residents would support a ballot measure limiting participation. In women’s and women’s sports biological females. This included 64% of self-employed people and 66% of parents of children under 18.
