(16 Apr 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cumberland, Maine – 16 April 2025
1. Pride flag outside home
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Vi Walsh, Greely High School student:
++PARTIALLY COVERED++
" Wow, that is a lot and very disappointing. I think this is so strange for a child’s participation in something they’re passionate about, something they love to do, has sparked all this. It’s almost dystopian, what is happening, it doesn’t seem, it doesn’t seem real."
3. Various of Greely High School exteriors
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Vi Walsh, Greely High School student:
++PARTIALLY COVERED++
""I think it’s incredibly ridiculous – to try and ban trans athletes, to try and ban trans people, because like it or not, trans people have been around just as long as CIS people have. It’s not something that you can erase. And it’s not something that’s OK to try and erase people. They are so hateful towards things that they don’t understand or they haven’t had exposure to or that they’re just uncomfortable with. And if that is the mindset that our president and his entire administration is leading with, then where are we going ?"
5. Various of Greely High School exteriors
6. Cumberland town hall
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Tig Filson, Cumberland Town Council:
++PARTIALLY COVERED++
"I don’t think anyone should ever have to justify their existence . Uh , so personally , I’m in favor of students being able to participate in the sports that they want to without those restrictions, that’s my opinion. The federal administration is gonna do what they’re gonna wanna do, and I fully support us fighting back."
8. Heart sign
STORYLINE:
The Trump administration on Wednesday sued Maine for not complying with the government’s push to ban transgender athletes in girls and women’s sports, escalating a dispute over whether the state is abiding by a federal law that bars discrimination in education based on sex.
The lawsuit follows weeks of feuding between the Republican administration and Democratic Gov. Janet Mills that has led to threats to cut off crucial federal funding and a clash at the White House when she told President Donald Trump: “We’ll see you in court.”
The political overtones of the moment were clear, with Attorney General Pam Bondi — and several athletes who joined her on stage at the Justice Department — citing the matter as a priority for Trump. Bondi said other states, including Minnesota and California, could be sued as well.
Trump campaigned against the participation of transgender athletes in sports in his 2024 race. As president, he has signed executive orders to do that and to use a rigid definition of the sexes, rather than gender, for federal government purposes. The orders are being challenged in court.
Trump’s departments of Education and Health and Human Services have said Maine’s education agency is violating the federal Title IX antidiscrimination law by allowing transgender girls to participate on girls teams. The Justice Department is asking the court to order the state to direct all schools to prohibit the participation of males in athletic competition designated for females.
Maine officials have refused to agree with a settlement that would have banned transgender students from sports, arguing that the law does not prevent schools from letting transgender athletes participate. Mills said Wednesday that the lawsuit was expected and is part of a pressure campaign by Washington to force Maine to ignore its own human rights laws.
===========================================================
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/1636d60bd4864fb3893d66733bbe5055
Author: AP Archive
Go to Source
News post in April 21, 2025, 9:06 pm.
Visit Our Sponsor’s:
News Post In – News
