It’s been a tumultuous year in the ongoing national debate over transgender rights in schools and sports, with Maine and Oregon standing out as epicenters for the clash between advocates and opponents of trans inclusion. From heated school board races in small-town Maine to a legal battle over a high school track medal in Oregon, the controversy has drawn in parents, students, activists, and the courts, each staking out their ground in a fight that shows no sign of abating.
In Maine, the issue of transgender student rights took center stage in the November 2025 school board elections. According to reporting by the Bangor Daily News and The Maine Monitor, at least nine candidates ran on platforms promising to restrict the rights of transgender students, particularly in relation to sports participation and access to facilities. Despite a year in which conservatives had previously gained seats in several districts, only three of these anti-trans candidates succeeded in winning seats this November. The remaining six—including Adam Zajac of Windham—fell short, with Zajac losing by a narrow margin of just 156 votes to pro-LGBTQ candidates Christina Small and Matthew Irving.
Windham’s school board had already voted 5-4 in October to maintain transgender protections in accordance with the Maine Human Rights Act, a move that Zajac and other conservatives opposed. Zajac, expressing disbelief at his loss, said, “The fact that Title IX isn’t passing completely blows my mind,” referencing the federal anti-discrimination law that, under the Trump administration, was reinterpreted to challenge state-level protections for transgender students. Despite his defeat, Zajac and others are not backing down, with plans to press forward on the issue, including a push for a state referendum.
Elsewhere in Maine, the city of Belfast—a Democratic stronghold—opted for inclusivity, electing write-in candidate Madison Cook over a conservative challenger. In Randolph, however, conservative Dan Coutts managed to unseat incumbent Elissa Tracey, who had supported the Maine Human Rights Act and the opening of a medical clinic within the district. Coutts, who first became involved in school politics while opposing mask mandates in 2020, acknowledged that the board remains “uneven,” adding, “I’d just like to get it back to the basics.” Tracey, reflecting on her defeat, noted that outside groups had helped mobilize conservative voters. She also remarked that, while hostility had cooled in her own district, it had “moved over to Augusta,” where activists have repeatedly disrupted school board meetings in protest of transgender policies.
Maine’s capital, Augusta, experienced its own contentious school board race this fall. Incumbent Rita Pello, who had voted against changing the district’s trans-inclusive policies in October, fended off a challenge from conservative Kelly Smith. Meanwhile, a retiring conservative member’s seat was filled by a liberal, after the conservative vote split between two candidates. Conservative activists, undeterred by the setbacks, continue to make their voices heard at board meetings. At a recent session, Tim Bodnar—known online as “Truth Slinger”—introduced himself as “Bella Balls,” donning makeup and a sunflower atop his trademark star-spangled cowboy hat. Another activist, Nicholas Blanchard (alias “Corn Pop”), lamented the board’s rightward losses before announcing his candidacy for 2026, vowing, “If I am elected I will fight like hell to protect safe spaces for young women, I will rip out every woke policy you have shoved down our throats.”
While Maine’s battles play out in school board meetings and local elections, Oregon’s controversy has moved into the courtroom. On May 30, 2025, Alexa Anderson, a standout high jumper at Tigard High School, finished third at the girls’ state championship. But instead of celebrating on the podium, Anderson and fourth-place finisher Reese Eckard stepped down in protest of a trans athlete competing in the event. Anderson told Fox News Digital, “I asked after the medal ceremony concluded, we went into kind of a tunnel that leads you back out to the audience, and I asked one of the officials, ‘Hey, are we going to get our medals?’ and she said they’d be shipped to our school. And then they were never shipped to our school.”
Anderson alleges that her third-place medal was withheld for months following her protest—a claim now at the heart of a lawsuit against the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA). The suit also alleges First Amendment violations, arguing that Anderson’s free speech rights were infringed when she was excluded from the championship photo and denied her medal. The legal battle passed a significant milestone when U.S. District Court Judge Youlee Yim You denied OSAA’s motion to strike a portion of the case, which highlights the league’s allowance of other forms of political speech, such as Black Lives Matter and pro-LGBTQ pride messaging.
“I’ve seen a lot of speech about support and rights for the LGBTQ community, the trans community, a lot of the Black Lives Matter movement stuff … wearing shirts, flags, that kind of stuff,” Anderson said. “I think it’s really harmful to students to only allow them to express certain viewpoints that you agree with.” She added that, throughout her four-year high school career, she never saw anyone else step down from the podium in protest: “That’s her signature.”
The fallout for Anderson was swift and severe. She described receiving death threats and harassment almost immediately after the protest. “There were people who just kinda attacked us and were like, ‘You guys are bullies, you’re horrible people,’” she recalled. The negative attention escalated as her story spread, with some critics calling her school to demand her expulsion and even threatening her ability to walk at graduation. “There were people messaging me personally, just saying horrible things, death threats even. ‘I hope you die,’” Anderson recounted. “It definitely hurt.”
Despite the vitriol, Anderson pressed on with her lawsuit, stating, “Part of me expected this and knew that’s just what happens when you stand up for what you believe in.” She eventually received her medal in November 2025—not from the school or OSAA, but at the Fox Nation Patriot Awards in New York, where she and Eckard were honored with the Most Valuable Patriot Award. Anderson now keeps the medal at her parents’ house in Oregon as she prepares for her freshman track season at the University of South Alabama. “It’s definitely frustrating that we didn’t get them in the moment… but it kinda is what it is at this point. There’s more important things that we’re fighting for,” she said.
Her attorney, Leigh’Ann O’Neill of the America First Policy Institute, outlined what it would take to settle the case: “OSAA needs to very affirmatively take a stand and demonstrate that they will respect all viewpoints from their athletes and participants in their other extracurricular activities in Oregon.” The lawsuit seeks nominal damages, but O’Neill emphasized that “it’s really about ensuring the protection of their free speech.”
As the legal and political battles continue, both Maine and Oregon offer a glimpse into the broader struggle over transgender rights in American schools—one that’s as much about who gets to set the rules as it is about the rules themselves.
