All In: Maine is right. Trans youth athletes deserve chance to play.

[Jessica_Rose]

All In: Maine is right. Trans youth athletes deserve chance to play.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/golf/all-in-maine-is-right-trans-youth-athletes-deserve-chance-to-play/ar-AA1DaBNv?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=38f4173a291c49ead3ae5656c79b3d66&ei=117

Story by Joyce Bassett (18 April 2025)

"I'm waiting for a column from you on men playing women's sports."

They think misgendering is an acceptable way to start the conversation.

It's not.

This column supports allowing all women and girls to participate in athletics. 

I support Maine Gov. Janet Mills and her state advocating for the rights of trans athletes, especially trans teens who play high school sports.

Trans rights are human rights. In Maine, that's state law. In New York, transgender rights are protected, thanks to our Human Rights Law and Proposition 1.

On Wednesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi went on a rant about trans women in sports when she announced the Justice Department is suing Maine over its refusal to comply with President Donald Trump's executive order banning transgender athletes.

The Maine Principals' Association (MPA), which governs Maine's high school athletics, has stated that there are only two transgender athletes participating in girls' sports this year. The government wants to withhold federal funding and sue over two athletes.

We have collegiate, professional and Olympic governing bodies that have regulations defining the female category of sports, including testosterone level limits for transgender participants. We need those rules at high levels of competition.

But the ongoing efforts to vilify trans youth and those who compete for fun with their friends, for exercise and the joy of playing is abhorrent.