A Maine father who has become the face of a citizen-led effort to keep school sports designated by sex spoke about the campaign’s legal fight and personal toll on Chicago’s Morning Answer on AM 560 The Answer.
Dan Proft introduced Leland Strife, founder of the group Maine Girl Dads and principal officer of the Protect Girls Sports in Maine Ballot Committee, noting that Strife and his wife both attended small Catholic liberal arts colleges before relocating to Maine. Proft framed the interview around a National Catholic Register profile of Strife’s efforts to get a ballot measure in front of Maine voters this November that would require school sports participation and facilities to be designated by sex.
Strife told Proft that his involvement began after noticing how thoroughly gender ideology had permeated schools and youth programs in his community, down to teachings aimed directly at his own children. He said he became especially alarmed after learning that male athletes competing as girls had taken state championship titles in Maine, including a pole vault title in which a male competitor’s mark displaced dozens of girls across the state rankings by shifting team scoring. That discovery led him to help found Maine Girl Dads, a coalition he said grew to more than eight thousand fathers who petitioned the Maine Principals’ Association to align its policies with federal Title IX standards. When that effort and subsequent appeals to state government went nowhere, Strife said he and other parents launched a citizens’ initiative campaign this past September, ultimately gathering more signatures than required to qualify for the November ballot.
Strife described his decision to become the public face of the campaign as rooted in his Catholic faith, saying he felt a widening gap between what he prayed each morning and what he was willing to say and do publicly, a tension he said crystallized for him after the killing of activist Charlie Kirk. He told Proft the choice to speak out openly has cost him socially in his community and created friction at the global professional services firm where he had been a partner, though he noted he had already planned an early retirement and so felt insulated from serious professional fallout. He said a search of his name now surfaces coverage describing him as leading what critics call an anti-trans movement, a shift from the purely professional profile that existed before.
Much of the conversation centered on the legal battle over ballot access. Strife said that despite polling showing roughly seventy percent support in Maine, and majorities across party lines, for single-sex school sports and facilities, the state’s political leadership has resisted the measure. He said his campaign submitted about eighty thousand signatures, well above the roughly sixty-seven thousand required, only to have the Maine Women’s Lobby retain the Elias Law Group to challenge the measure’s ballot placement in court. Strife said the case has moved from state courts into federal court, where a ruling on a preliminary injunction was expected within days at the time of the interview, and that even if the measure doesn’t appear on this year’s ballot, the signatures already collected would remain valid for a future statewide election. He suggested the opposition’s underlying motivation was less about the policy itself than about suppressing turnout that could affect Senator Susan Collins’ reelection prospects this year.
Asked to reflect on the positive side of his public advocacy, Strife pointed to encouragement from his children, his parish community, and members of the public, including a middle school girl who told him she no longer felt comfortable changing in her school’s locker room and thanked him for helping bring attention to the issue. Proft and Strife also discussed the significance of current professional athletes, such as WNBA player Sophie Cunningham, speaking out on the topic, with Strife arguing that visible support from active athletes gives others cultural permission to voice agreement without fear of professional backlash. He expressed hope that more men, including active professional athletes who are fathers, would join the cause rather than leaving the advocacy primarily to girls and women.