Campaign for Free and Fair Schools Responds to Verification of Anti-Trans Ballot Initiative Signatures

A coalition of organizations today announced that they have formed the Campaign for Free and Fair Schools, a ballot question committee, to oppose a harmful proposal that would ban transgender student athletes from participating in school sports and dismantle significant protections in the Maine Human Rights Act.

The Maine Secretary of State announced on Tuesday that it had verified 71,033 signatures and invalidated 8,659. A minimum of 67,682 signatures are required for a ballot question to appear on the ballot. Proponents of the anti-transgender ballot initiative submitted signatures on February 2 and have a margin of just 3,351 signatures. 

The Campaign for Free and Fair Schools, the new ballot question committee, will review the decision by the Secretary of State and launch a statewide campaign opposing the referendum.

“Over and over, Mainers have said we will not allow bullying and discrimination in our schools,” said Gia Drew, executive director of EqualityMaine. “If voters approve it, this measure would open the door to harassment, bullying and abuse of children. It would embolden adults and members of the public to harass and scrutinize student athletes who just want to be on the team. Enshrining the harassment of LGBTQ+ students into state law would hurt vulnerable kids and send the wrong message about who we are as Mainers.”

Mainers who oppose this harmful ballot initiative can sign a petition to pledge to vote no if the measure makes it onto the ballot this fall. 

“An out-of-state billionaire has paid out-of-state political consultants to hire out-of-state signature gatherers to attack Maine public schools and long-standing policies regarding school sports and bathrooms,” said David Farmer, a spokesperson for the ballot question committee. “This attack on public education is being propped up by one of the same billionaires who is spending millions of dollars to rig our country for the rich.”

Richard Uihlein is the sole contributor to the ballot question committee that is funding the effort to place a total ban of transgender students participating in school sports on the ballot in November 2026. He contributed $800,000. Uihlein, through the primary ballot question committee, is also the primary funder of a second ballot question committee that is also supporting the initiative.

“This is part of a larger attempt by right-wing billionaires to buy their way into our schools and communities and insert their harmful agenda,” said Destie Hohman Sprague, executive director of the Maine Women’s Lobby. “As Maine’s leading organization for gender equity, we are prepared to fight these attempts every step of the way. Attacking gender identity is an attack on all women and girls – from their bodily autonomy, to their right to express their gender however they see fit without fear of policing or bullying. We want all kids, regardless of their gender, to be able to participate normally in school. This ballot initiative would take that ability away.”

Uihlein and his wife, Elizabeth, have a net worth estimated at $5.3 billion. Together with his wife, Uihlein has spent more than $200,000,000 on extremist political campaigns and political action committees, plus additional undisclosed contributions to political organizations. His money has funded anti-abortion groups, 2020 election deniers and anti-LGBTQ+ organizations.

“As a former educator and a lifelong athlete, I know firsthand that sports teach kids about hard work and team work,” Drew said. “All kids deserve the opportunity to play and learn in a safe environment free from harassment. And all of us, whether we are straight or LGBTQ+, must continue to speak up for what’s right. Between now and November, we have a lot of work to do to make sure every student knows they belong in our state.”

The proposed ballot question would also impose a burden on schools to construct new facilities and would undermine Maine law beyond participation in school sports.

“This proposed law would exclude every transgender kid regardless of their age, sport, or individual circumstances. That’s both blunt and cruel and contrary to what Mainers value – that every child should have a chance at everything schools have to offer for their development,” said Mary Bonauto, Senior Director of Civil Rights and Legal Strategies at GLAD Law. “The billionaire and sole funder of the ballot question is using a few transgender kids as a wedge issue with a measure that would only create more problems for schools, parents, and students.”

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EqualityMaine, founded in 1984, has been foundational to protecting and advancing the rights of LGBTQ+ Mainers, including passing laws to protect LGBTQ+ people from hate crimes and discrimination, outlawing harmful practices like conversion therapy, and winning marriage equality at the 2012 ballot box in Maine. EqualityMaine has also been a key advocate for strengthening anti-harassment and anti-violence measures for Maine’s youth. 

The Maine Women’s Lobby has since 1978 worked to pass laws for gender justice. Among its many legislative achievements are the passage of landmark laws to prevent domestic and sexual violence and support survivors, to expand access to reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare, and the passage of Maine’s Paid Family and Medical Leave law in 2023.

GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law) has worked to establish and defend rules and laws requiring equal opportunities and equal treatment in Maine, New England and nationally since 1978. GLAD Law worked with the University of Maine to establish the first state public domestic partnership benefits, and, in partnership with other attorneys, won legal cases expanding protections for parent-child relationships. With the Maine Human Rights Commission and private counsel, GLAD Law won the landmark anti-discrimination case in 2014  ensuring that Nicole Maines, a transgender girl, was allowed to use the same facilities as other girls. GLAD Law worked with EQME, the ME Women’s Lobby and the ACLU of Maine to win marriage equality at the ballot box in 2012. GLAD Law also successfully challenged the federal Defense of Marriage Act and argued the right to marry at the U.S. Supreme Court, establishing a nationwide, equal right to marry in 2015.