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A state that's known for its rugged coastlines and quiet towns is finding itself at the center of a heated national debate over transgender athletes in women's sports. The controversy has ignited fierce discussions about fairness and equality, which are now playing out across the state of Maine.
A Christian law firm has filed an appeal to the Maine Supreme Court on behalf of a single mother barred by an unconstitutional custody order from taking her 11-year-old daughter to an evangelical Christian Church because a state district judge has declared the church's biblical teachings to be "psychologically harmful."
Be informed, not misled.
Maine governor to President Trump: "We'll see you in court."
Cassidy Carlisle is a high school senior and varsity athlete. She says the issue has become personal.
"It shouldn't be my goal to beat a biological male. But it was, and when I didn't, it was super defeating," she says.
Carlisle has competed in three sports throughout her high school career.
CBN reports, "Cassidy's experience began in middle school when she found herself changing in a locker room with a transgender student. The issue followed her into high school, where she faced a transgender athlete in Nordic skiing. That individual had previously outperformed several of her friends in track events. 'I believe that God has created spaces for women to flourish, and we need to protect those spaces,'" she said."
Cassidy's father, Doug Carlisle, also says he's frustrated. "I know the runner individually; he placed in like the bottom 15 or 20% when he competed against the males his freshman year in high school. And as he transitioned, he became one of the top female runners.".
In February, CBN says, President Trump signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from competing in girls' and women's sports, threatening states that refuse to comply with the loss of federal funding.
The White House's hard stance quickly set off a series of public and legal confrontations. In response to the new federal order, Maine Governor Janet Mills pushed back during a White House event, telling President Trump, "We'll see you in court."
CBN says "The debate hit home for many in Maine when a transgender athlete from a local high school recently won the girls' pole vault event at a Class B state championship, a stark contrast to when the same athlete competed as a male just two years prior and tied for fifth in the same event."
Rep. Liz Caruso (R-Maine), who is sponsoring a bill to ban transgender athletes from competing in female categories, said, "Maine policy has been ignoring Title IX protections, and it has caused chaos and discrimination in our athletic fields. If this continues, female sports won't be sustainable without critical legislation."
In Maine, the controversy also took a political turn. Republican Rep. Laurel Libby was censured by the state House for identifying the transgender athlete from the pole vault incident in a social media post. Libby quickly filed a lawsuit against the House speaker, claiming her right to free speech had been violated.
"It's mind-boggling that we're here discussing this, and that this is not just a foregone conclusion that males are males, females are females, and males do not belong in female sports. It's basic biology."
Maine's legislative and legal developments on this issue could shape the state's policies and have national ramifications for transgender rights, both in sports and in broader policies. Polls show 80% of Americans believe transgender athletes should not compete in women's sports.
Nick Adolphsen of the Christian Civic League of Maine says concerns extend beyond sports. "They want our girls to be comfortable sharing a locker room with a biological male. They want our kids to have a different perspective than their parents' generation on the value, the beauty of gender and sexuality as God created us," he said.
Cassidy hopes her actions will empower future generations of athletes.
Cassidy says she harbors no ill will toward the so-called "trans women" because she is a Christian.
"But I want all of us to be able to compete fairly and equally, and right now, that's not happening."
Maine vs The Church and Free Speech.
Liberty Counsel, a Christian law firm, shared this publicly yesterday:
Liberty Counsel filed an appeal to the Maine Supreme Court on behalf of a single mother barred by an unconstitutional custody order from taking her 11-year-old daughter to an evangelical Christian church. A state district judge declared the church’s biblical teachings to be “psychologically harmful” and granted the father, who objected to the teachings, the sole right to govern the girl’s religious activities. Liberty Counsel seeks a reversal of this unlawful custody order and restoration of the mother’s First Amendment right to pass on her religious beliefs to her child.
Under the U.S. Constitution, federal law, and numerous Supreme Court precedents, unmarried parents both have the right to instill their religious beliefs into their children during their respective custodial time. Yet, in her order, Maine District Judge Jennifer Nofsinger denied the mother’s religious freedom based solely on the objections of the child’s father.
According to Judge Nofsinger’s order, the father took issue with his daughter attending Calvary Chapel Church in Portland because it teaches the Bible “verse by verse, chapter by chapter,” including teaching on the Bible’s descriptions of hell, demons, and spiritual warfare. He hired California sociology professor, Dr. Janja Lalich, an “expert on cults,” to help convince Judge Nofsinger to stop his daughter attending this church. Dr. Lalich told the judge that cults usually have a charismatic, authoritarian leader who teach about a “transcendent belief system” that offers answers, and “promises some sort of salvation.” She further testified that she had “studied” Calvary Chapel Church and found that the church’s pastor was a “charismatic” speaker, spoke “authoritatively” in his messages, and that he asserted his messages were objective truth. Because of this, Dr. Lalich perceived the church to be a “cultic” organization.” Despite not being a psychologist, Dr. Lalich testified it was “evident” that the church posed a potential for psychological harm to the girl.
In addition, Judge Nofsinger interpreted the pastor’s public prayer over the custody situation, which referenced spiritual warfare, as putting the father on the side of “evil” and the mother on the side of “good” in the daughter’s eyes. Relying on both this interpretation and the “expert” testimony, the court order states that this church is “psychologically detrimental” to the girl. The court decided the remedy was giving the father the sole authority to make “final decisions” regarding the girl’s religious instruction. Specifically, the order allows the father to deny his daughter access to Calvary Chapel Church’s services, events, messages or anything else associated with it. The order also gives the father sole control over his daughter’s participation in any other churches, even during the mother’s custodial time.
In the appeal, Liberty Counsel stated the decision makes a dogmatic assertion without any proof that the Christian religion is “psychologically harmful.” In so doing, the order adopts a “heckler’s veto” over the mother’s fundamental religious rights to take her daughter to church.
“Contending that [the mother’s] religious beliefs, which include prayer, reading the Bible, attending a mainstream Christian church that teaches from the Bible, that teaches there is a path to salvation, and that believes in objective truth is psychologically harmful to a minor is, quite simply, outside the realm of judicial authority,” wrote Liberty Counsel
Calvary Chapel is not a cult.
This custody order banning a mother from taking her child to a Christian church because of its biblical teachings regarding marriage and human sexuality violates the First Amendment.
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