So, you want to protect women?
Published in the Portland Press Herald, March 22, 2025
Lately, there’s been an uptick in interest in protecting women and girls among policy makers. One of the President's executive orders on his very first day was about defending women, and a group of Maine legislators held a rally to protect women just a few weeks ago. Here at the Maine Women’s Lobby, we’ve been advocating for the rights of women and girls, as well as anyone who experiences sexism, since 1978, and we welcome this increased attention.
That’s why we are surprised that the Executive Order, as well as so many other recent moves to protect women and girls, are protecting them from …. having to play sports with trans people.
You might have assumed that an order claiming to protect opportunities for women and girls was related to sexual violence, since 37% of Maine women will experience rape or attempted rape in their lifetime, almost entirely at the hands of cisgender men. Or perhaps related to poverty, since women are more likely than men to live in poverty in every county in Maine, and are twice as likely than men to enter retirement in poverty. Or about the fact that half of all homicides in Maine are related to domestic violence against women. Or childcare and direct care, which is keystone infrastructure that keeps women and caregivers in the workforce, yet is one of the most underpaid sectors of our economy, and is almost entirely women.
We have many opportunities to address the health and economic security of women right now, as each of these issues will be before the Maine Legislature this year. Funding for victim services faces an existential threat due to a faltering national Crime Victimization Fund. SNAP and TANF are on the block. The legislatively-mandated wage increase for childcare workers was rolled back by $20 million in the Governor’s budget - though it has been restored for now. Family planning services face serious cuts and unprecedented demand; and nearly three in four patients seeking care qualify for free or reduced services.
And yet, instead of taking tangible steps to address these structural challenges, the focus has been on using trans people's civil rights as a wedge issue. On every conceivable measure, trans people (who make up less than two percent of the US population) face more barriers, more discrimination, and more violence than cisgender women. But the reasons are the same: the social policing of our bodies, our roles, our clothing, our presentation, and our lives is a tale as old as time. That is why the work on behalf of women’s equality must include trans women: the same misogyny and harmful gender roles that still box in women after all these years also box in trans people, and their box is smaller.
This Women’s History Month, there are so many critical and time-sensitive issues before Maine, from the shuttering of rural birthing hospitals to the caregiving workforce shortage, which is women’s door into the workforce. Much of the progress we have made is being rolled back, and rising sexist attitudes are fueling this fight. We cannot get distracted, and we have no time to lose.
No effort to protect women relies primarily on dividing us and excluding the most vulnerable among us. Truly protecting women means dedicating our energy to fighting for policies that advance the health, economic security, safety, and dignity of all women, because we’re in this together.
