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ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WBFF) — As Maryland faces a federal investigation into its school gender policies, Gov. Wes Moore is silent on whether he believes biological boys who identify as girls should be able to access the private spaces and sports teams of their choice.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights launched an investigation last month into whether the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) violates Title IX by allowing access to sports teams, restrooms and locker rooms based on gender identity, which means biological boys can compete against girls and access their private spaces.
One week later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states can determine access to sports teams based on biological sex.
In light of these federal developments, Spotlight on Maryland asked Moore’s office:
His office did not respond.
The U.S. Department of Education investigation into MSDE also applies to Montgomery County Public Schools, Prince George’s County Public Schools and Frederick County Public Schools.
MSDE released a statement in response to the federal investigation, assuring it “remains committed to supporting all students and upholding the law,” while specifying, “we have no comment while the complaint is under review.”
Jonathan Alexandre, who works as a legislative counsel at the Maryland Family Institute, said that Moore and his administration need to admit they were wrong on the issue of gender identity and act instead to protect girls.
“It’s obvious that [Moore’s] political ideologies are running countercultural to what most Marylanders clearly understand, what the Supreme Court has laid out in this decision — that biological males and females have differences that really matter,” Alexandre told Spotlight on Maryland. “It matters for the safety, the dignity, the privacy of these young girls.”
A New York Times and Ipsos poll last year found that 79% of respondents said transgender female athletes who were born male should have to play for the team of their biological sex.
The “Fairness in Girls’ Sports Act,” filed in the Maryland Senate and House of Delegates this year, would have required that junior varsity and varsity sports teams be determined by biological sex. However, the bills stalled in committees in both chambers.
The Maryland Association of Boards of Education and the Public School Superintendents’ Association of Maryland testified in opposition to the bill, emphasizing that the legislation threatens the inclusion of transgender students who wish to play sports.
Del. Kathy Szeliga, a Baltimore County Republican, has sponsored the Fairness in Girls’ Sports Act for the past five years without success in advancing it. She said Maryland leaders need to put ideology aside on this issue.
“I think Gov. Wes Moore is afraid to tick off the very far-left extreme part of his party that says biological boys are the same as biological girls,” Szeliga told Spotlight on Maryland. “His silence is deafening, and it really speaks volumes about his inability to lead and make a decision on this important topic.”
In April, Moore was asked on the PBD podcast what his position was on biological males competing in women’s sports. The governor gave a mixed response, stating, “I don’t think that that’s something that we should allow,” while going on to emphasize that local districts should dictate policy on the issue.
“I don’t think that the president or a governor should be getting involved in something that is actually a decision of a local jurisdiction,” Moore said on the podcast.
Moore also said during the April interview that he would allow his 14-year-old son to transition genders if he hypothetically wanted to.
“If this is how he’s feeling, and I feel like I’m closely tied to him, I’m not going to advise him on something that he feels is right,” Moore said.
A Spotlight on Maryland investigation in May found that while gender clinics for minors are shutting down across the nation, Maryland’s clinics remain open and allow children to access puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.
Alexandre emphasized that continuing momentum will lead Maryland leaders to eventually fold on the issue of allowing biological boys to access the private spaces and teams of girls.
“It’s unfortunate that Maryland’s governor and Maryland superintendents writ large have not followed the science and have not followed where the rest of this nation has gone in rejecting this LGBT ideology,” he told Spotlight on Maryland. “But we’ll surely get there. No lie can live forever. And we’re glad that the Supreme Court, the U.S. Department of Education and common-sense Americans all across the country are where we should always be—respecting the differences between biological males and females, and not being afraid to defend the innocent among us, especially those of our young girls.”
Spotlight on Maryland is a joint venture by The Baltimore Sun, FOX45 News and WJLA in Washington, D.C. Have a news tip? Call 410-467-4670 or emailSpotlightOnMaryland@sbgtv.com. Contact Patrick Hauf atpjhauf@sbgtv.comand @PatrickHauf on X.
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