Fatherhood is the toughest and most rewarding job I’ll ever have. It’s a humbling experience where new challenges crop up every day, and they only seem to grow bigger as my little ones do the same. The only constant is myself—who I say I am to my kids, versus who I really am through my actions.
Our examples as fathers literally shape the lives of our children and the world around them. That realization has been heavy on my heart as my kids get older. If I am to be a man of integrity, then I need to close that gap every day, without fear.
Over the past year, my work as co-leader of the Maine Girl Dads (and of the Protect Girls Sports in Maine ballot referendum) has helped me do just that. My courage, integrity and conviction have been put to the test. But as dads, we stand up for our kids not just when it’s easy, but especially when it’s hard. A year ago, if you searched my name, you’d find nothing but professional accolades. These days, the biased media paints me as someone championing discrimination, when in fact, I’ve set out to end sex-based discrimination in Maine by preserving single-sex sports and spaces in our schools.
In early 2025, a coalition of dads, including myself, decided it was time to stand up for our children, especially our daughters, and against regressive transgender policies that distort biological reality and threaten fairness and safety in our schools. We formed a grassroots movement, now known as the Maine Girl Dads, that challenged the Maine Principals Association and state legislature to change course.
When those institutions failed to act, we dads became the founding force for a ballot referendum citizen’s initiative, titled the Protect Girls Sports in Maine Act, collecting over 82,000 signatures. Our petition was just validated by the Secretary of State to officially make it onto the 2026 November ballot.
The truth is, males are actively competing in (and winning) girls’ sports in our state, even stealing state championships. For example, in 2025, a male won Maine’s girls’ high jump state title, clearing six inches higher than the female who was given second place. Six. Inches.
And not only did that male win individually—that win gave his team a 1-point edge over the all-female team that was then awarded 2nd in the state.
Importantly, this isn’t just happening in girls’ sports. Males are in female locker rooms, bathrooms, and showers. At the petition turn-in event in Augusta on February 2, an 8th grade girl shared how she cannot change in her school locker room anymore due to males in there changing (and watching). So instead she is forced to retreat to a single stall in the bathroom for privacy.
Is this fair? Is this moral? Is this progressive? By denying these young females single-sex spaces and opportunities, our schools are violating federal law, state law, and common sense.
As the Maine Girl Dads have fought to correct these wrongs, we’ve continuously faced barriers. While collecting signatures for the petition, for example, some people berated us. One screamed I was a “f***ing nazi” in front of my kid. In my social life, some people now avoid me or my family. In the media, they’ve painted us as discriminatory. And groups that purport to stand for equality (Equality Maine) and women & girls (Maine Women’s Lobby!) have even formed a campaign to oppose us.
But we know that many more Mainers agree with us than oppose us. More than 82,000 Mainers from over 355 towns have signed the petition in support of the Protect Girls Sports in Maine Act. On March 17, 71,033 of those signatures were found valid by the Maine Secretary of State, exceeding the required threshold and sending this initiative to the ballot in November.
What does the proposed act do? It will:
- Define “sex” as your biological status at birth, as recorded on your original birth certificate.
- Require schools to designate competitive sports by sex: male, female, co-ed.
- Ensure private spaces (bathrooms, locker rooms, showers) are also designated by sex.
This is inclusive. Nobody is banned; nobody is excluded. Everybody has a sex, and everybody plays and accesses private spaces according to that sex.
As we fight to restore common sense and fairness in our state, the Maine Girl Dads have put our personal relationships, professional brands, and social stations at risk for a greater good: our daughters. But this isn’t heroic. This is just what us dads do every single day for our kids: we protect them, defend them, and lead them.
And the truth is, when you stand up and speak for truth, you’ll find others will join you. In Maine, dads and their daughters are relieved. We’ve given them a voice – and a solution – when they had none.
In other words, we simply did what every dad does for their daughter every day: showed them the way.
Be brave. Be a dad.
