Maine Governor Janet Mills Comes Out Against Billionaire-Funded Anti-Trans Sports/Bathrooms Referendum

The candidate will be running in a Democratic primary with the goal of unseating Republican Senator Susan Collins.

Janet Mills Press Conference

On Monday, days after Republican Sen. Susan Collins voted in favor of an amendment to Trump's SAVE Act that would ban transgender students from girls' sports nationwide, Maine Gov. Janet Mills—who is running in a Democratic primary to unseat her—came out with a forceful statement in favor of transgender youth in sports. Mills was asked about her position on a new ballot referendum that will likely go before voters this November—which would ban transgender girls from sports, bar transgender students from bathrooms in schools across the state, and carve transgender students out of the Maine Human Rights Act in certain cases. It is Mills' first time directly opposing the referendum, and a significant case of a Democratic candidate running for a swing seat standing up for transgender people.

"I would not support a ballot measure that demonizes children and demonizes and uses as a political ploy, as the Republicans have done, the right-wing Republicans have done, with this kind of initiative. It targets some of the most vulnerable people in our society," Mills said at a press conference. "I brought up five daughters in Maine. They all played sports. They should all have an opportunity to play sports. My husband was a coach, a high school coach, and I saw, I always saw in the eyes of those kids, new energy, new feeling about life, a new way to engage in teamwork, to make new friends, and that's what sports does—gives you a different perspective on life, makes you a better human being."

Her statement was in response to a referendum from "Protect Girls Sports in Maine," an anti-transgender organization funded by far-right Republican megadonor and billionaire Richard Uihlein, of Uline office supplies, who donated $800,000 to bankroll the signature drive. The referendum successfully collected enough signatures to appear on the ballot this November. It would define sex for school purposes as "a person's biological status as male or female recorded at birth on the person's original birth certificate"—a definition that would bar transgender students' legal recognition. It would require schools to "maintain separate restrooms, locker rooms, shower rooms, and other private spaces for each sex," going beyond sports, and would create a transgender sports ban across the state. It would also create a private right of action allowing individuals who encounter transgender students in bathrooms to sue the school that permitted their access—while carving all of these provisions out of the Maine Human Rights Act.

This is not Mills' first foray into the fight over transgender athletes. In February 2025, Trump singled out Maine at a meeting with Republican governors, threatening to pull federal funding unless the state banned transgender girls from girls' sports. The next day, Mills confronted Trump at the White House, telling him, "See you in court." What followed was an unprecedented federal pressure campaign: six federal agencies launched investigations targeting the state—all over a handful of transgender athletes out of roughly 53,000 high school sports participants statewide. When Maine refused to comply, the Department of Justice sued the state in April 2025—that lawsuit is still ongoing.

Mills' stance in support of transgender athletes is a notable position for a Democratic governor running for a purple Senate seat in an era where well-funded political pundits and organizations have aimed to push Democrats to the right on transgender issues. Her approach stands in stark contrast to that of fellow Democratic Governor California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a likely 2028 presidential contender, who has repeatedly thrown transgender people under the bus. In March 2025, Newsom told conservative activist Charlie Kirk on the debut of his podcast that trans participation in girls' sports was "deeply unfair.” And just weeks ago, in an interview with Katie Couric, he said he could not see a way for trans women to fairly compete on women's sports teams—while insisting he was not throwing the community under the bus. Mills, by contrast, is running toward the issue rather than away from it, and doing so in a competitive seat.

Mills, who is term-limited and cannot run for a third consecutive term as governor in 2026, is running against fellow Democrat Graham Platner for the chance to unseat Collins. Platner, for his part, has also been ardently pro-transgender rights. He opposed the referendum as early as November 2025, telling NOTUS that it "targets transgender kids and takes Maine backwards." After Collins voted for the Tuberville amendment this weekend, Platner criticized her on social media, writing, "At a time when Mainers are dealing with rising gas prices and airport chaos, this is what she's focused on—attacking kids and taking away your right to vote." Of the referendum itself, Platner has said, "I think banning people from playing in sports in the gender that they see themselves as and identify as, doing that in a wholesale way, is going to be restrictive of people's rights. So, I do not think that banning is the answer."

The Maine Democratic primary is June 9, with the winner facing Collins in the November general election—the same ballot where voters will likely decide the fate of the anti-trans referendum. That means the fight over transgender rights in Maine will play out simultaneously on two tracks: the Senate race, where both Democratic candidates have now staked out firm positions in defense of transgender youth, and the referendum. How both play out could reshape the political calculus around transgender issues for Democrats nationwide.