Ruling blocks new Title IX rule in some Maine schools, but state anti-discrimination law remains
Students walk on campus at the University of Maine Orono. (UMaine photo)
Schools in Maine must continue to abide by state law that prohibits discrimination based on sex and sexual orientation, despite a federal court ruling this week temporarily blocking Title IX rule changes that sought to offer such protections, according to the Maine Attorney General’s Office.
After the U.S. Department of Education released its final rule for Title IX in April, aimed to protect LGBTQ+ students by extending the definition of sex discrimination to include sexual orientation and gender identity, twenty-six GOP-led states sued President Joe Biden’s administration over the changes.
While Maine was not among these states, a federal court ruling in Kansas on Wednesday blocked the application of the rule to schools whose students or their parents are members of the advocacy groups that did join that case, which includes three K-12 schools and two colleges in Maine.
The 42-page list of schools that the injunction applies to includes Narraguagus High School in Harrington, Thornton Academy in Saco and Winthrop High School, as well as the University of Maine and Bowdoin College.
Maine’s anti-discrimination law, the Maine Human Rights Act, already prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex and sexual orientation, which includes gender identity and expression as specified in statute. This law is enforced by the quasi-independent state agency the Maine Human Rights Commission.
While the five Maine schools are barred from enforcing the new Title IX regulations, they must comply with Maine law and regulations, “and they may have their own policies in place that they can apply or enforce that are substantively similar to the new Title IX regulations,” Danna Hayes, special assistant to Maine Attorney General Aaaron Frey, told Maine Morning Star.
In the injunction issued Wednesday, the court stated “nothing in this order limits the ability of any school to adopt or follow its own policies, or otherwise comply with applicable state or local laws or rules regarding the subjects addressed herein.”
Instead, the court went on to explain, the order “simply prohibits Defendants from demanding compliance with the Final Rule by the schools affected by this order, or imposing any consequences for such schools’ failure to comply with the Final Rule.”
Frey supports the Title IX regulations, Hayes said, “because they help ensure equal access to educational opportunities.” Hayes also noted that Frey joined other attorneys general in a 2022 letter to the Education Department supporting the rules when they were first proposed.
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