Supporters of a referendum that would bar transgender students from sports teams and private spaces that align with the students’ gender identities said Monday that they’ve gathered enough signatures to force a statewide vote on the issue.

The group behind the effort said it collected over 82,000 signatures from Maine voters — about 14,000 more than the number required to put a citizen initiative on the ballot. The signatures must now be reviewed and certified by the Department of the Secretary of State before the referendum is approved to appear on the ballot in November.

“We Mainers have found a solution where the Maine Principals’ Association and our state Legislature refused to,” Leyland Streiff, lead petitioner and co-lead of the organization Maine Girl Dads, said during a news conference at the State House on Monday. “Their inaction and silence are at odds with what their constituents want. Voters see this as a commonsense issue, not a political one.”

The referendum would require Maine public school students to play on teams matching their sex as it appears on their birth certificates. Girls could participate on a boys team if no female team is available to them in a given sport.

The proposal also would require students to use restrooms, locker rooms and other private spaces based on the sex they were assigned at birth.

It follows intense debate in Maine and nationally about the rights of transgender athletes. President Donald Trump issued an executive order last year aimed at barring transgender athletes from girls and women’s sports, relying on a new interpretation of federal Title IX law. His administration is currently suing Maine over the state’s policies allowing transgender athletes to participate in sports in a way that aligns with their gender identity.

In 2014, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court upheld the right of transgender students to access the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity when it ruled in favor of Nicole Maines, an Orono student who was made to use a staff bathroom instead of the girls’ restroom.

The Maine Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on gender identity in all educational and extracurricular activities, has been cited by state officials as the basis for the current policies.

The referendum states that the separation of athletic teams, bathrooms and locker rooms would not constitute unlawful discrimination as defined in the Maine Human Rights Act.

Republican lawmakers in Maine brought forward several proposals last year to roll back the rights of transgender students, including measures that would have required students to use bathrooms that align with the sex assigned to them at birth. None of those proposals passed in the Democratic-controlled Legislature.

Supporters of the referendum were well-funded as they embarked on their signature-gathering effort. In October, they received an $800,000 contribution from conservative megadonor Richard Uihlein, the founder of the Wisconsin-based Uline Corp., a shipping supplies company. All but $10,000 of that money has already been spent, according to the latest campaign finance reports filed with the state.

A newly formed coalition of groups opposed to the measure, led by EqualityMaine, GLAD Law and the Maine Women’s Lobby, attacked the referendum Monday in a written statement in which they pointed to Uihlein’s funding as a “cynical attempt by one of the richest people in the world to manipulate voters.”

The group also said the referendum treats Maine students unfairly and could cost schools millions of dollars in construction and litigation. 

“We will face this challenge head-on and fight every day to pull back the curtains on these billionaires and their efforts to undermine public education in Maine,” said David Farmer, a spokesperson for the coalition.

Sofia Pride, a University of Maine student and former high school athlete, said at Monday’s news conference that transgender students would still be able to compete in sports, but would need to do so either on a coed team or based on the sex they were assigned at birth.

“Everyone deserves the right to compete in sports,” Pride said. “That’s totally a fair statement to make. But I think it’s also important to note that girls deserve to have a safe space, and that’s the change we’re trying to do.”

The referendum is among three citizen initiatives that voters could decide soon. Monday was the deadline for signatures to be handed in for organizers hoping to put their questions on the Nov. 2026 ballot.

Organizers behind a proposal that would require state lawmakers to come up with a plan to provide publicly funded health care for all residents are aiming to qualify for the 2027 ballot.

Another proposal would end recreational marijuana sales and add tracking and testing requirements to medical marijuana. Madison Carey, lead petitioner on that effort, did not respond to a voicemail message or email seeking an update Monday.

The secretary of state’s office has 30 days to certify the submitted signatures. The Legislature also has the opportunity to consider a proposal as legislation if it meets the signature requirement, and could choose to pass the proposal or send a competing measure to voters.

Staff Photographer Rich Abrahamson contributed to this report.