Voters in Maine are aligned with President Donald Trump when it comes to education and sports. A new poll shows parents want control of their children’s education and do not want teachers turning their children transgender or focusing on radical ideology.
Spry Strategies conducted the Courage is a Habit Maine Survey with a random sample of 500 voters in Maine from April 22 to April 25. While most voters disapproved of how Trump has handled his second term in the White House so far, participants overwhelmingly seemed to agree with the policies he has fought for regarding their children.
More than 52% of people surveyed believed Maine should comply with Trump’s executive order to keep biological males out of female sports. When it came to transgender chemical and surgical mutilation of people under the age of 19, 54% of people approved of Trump’s executive order restricting the practice on children.
When it came to teaching transgender ideology to K-12 students, 58% of voters said teachers should not be telling students they can be born in the wrong body. Two-thirds of voters did not support counselors promoting being transgender as an option to children, and an overwhelming 68% of voters did not support teachers being able to hide a child’s gender identity from parents. Even more voters, 77%, opposed schools being able to prescribe hormone blockers to children without parental consent.
The state has come into the spotlight due to Gov. Janet Mills‘s (D-ME) belief that biological boys should be allowed to compete in girls sports and Mills’s refusal to abide by Trump’s Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports executive order.
“I hope Governor Mills will recognize that her political feud with the president will deprive the students in her state of much more than the right to fair sporting events,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said. “After all, compliance with federal civil rights law is a universal prerequisite for receiving federal funding. The Trump administration could not be any clearer to all states, sports leagues, and educational institutions. We take the violations of women’s civil rights very seriously.”
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) also criticized Mills’s position, saying it goes against Title IX.
“I believe that the State of Maine is under scrutiny because of the state law that allows biological males to play in girls’ sports,” Collins said in a statement to Fox News. “And that is contrary, not just to the President’s executive order, but what I believe is the very spirit and intent of Title IX, which was to provide sports and other athletic activities to girls in a safe and fair way.”
The Department of Health and Human Services also sent a violation notice to the Maine Department of Education for violating Title IX.
The Department of Justice in Maine filed a lawsuit alleging the state’s Department of Education is out of compliance with Title IX. A judge said the case could be ready for trial by Dec. 3.
Meanwhile, 46% of voters said they disapproved of how Mills has handled her job as governor, versus 36.8% of voters who strongly approved of her actions.
A petition to recall Mills received just under 30,000 signatures before it was halted because the state does not allow for recalling the governor. Melissa Moulton, who started the petition, said she was “deeply disappointed” by Mills’s policies.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TAKES AIM AT SCHOOLS AND STATES RESISTING TITLE IX
“I believe strongly that her policies are not in alignment with the wishes and values of the majority of Mainers,” Moulton said in the change.org petition. “The feeling of disconnect between the populace and leadership is palpable and widespread.”
Ashley Oliver contributed to this report.
