Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows invalidated a proposed ballot measure that would ban transgender-identifying males from female sports and spaces in the state, but she finalized the wording of the measure in case a court ultimately reverses her decision.
“On May 26, Bellows accepted a staff recommendation finding that supporters of the initiative had submitted 67,150 valid signatures, short of the 67,682 required to qualify for the ballot. The office found 12,542 signatures invalid out of petition forms filed with the state,” WMTW reported. “That decision remains final unless successfully appealed.”
The ballot measure, which is backed by Protect Girls Sports in Maine and titled “An Act to Designate School Sports Participation and Facilities by Sex,” would appear on the Nov. 3 ballot as:
Do you want to change civil rights and education laws to require public schools to restrict access to bathrooms, other private spaces, and sports, based on the sex on every child’s original birth certificate, and allow students to sue the schools?
The ballot measure would go against the Maine Human Rights Act, which bans discrimination on the basis of “gender identity,” and would require sports teams and school facilities to be separated by biological sex.
Bellows’ office said it issued the measure’s final wording just in case a court overturns her decision on appeal, per the report.
Protect Girls Sports in Maine has said it disagrees with Bellows’ decision and “is seeking judicial review,” according to the report.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.