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This week, at a Maine school board meeting, three activists removed their clothing down to their underwear in protest against the district’s policy that permits transgender athletes to participate in women’s sports.
In what seemed like a morally charged theatrical performance led by local activist Nick Blanchard, the demonstration took place in Augusta on Wednesday in front of the city’s school board members, as reported by Central Maine.
Two women and one man gradually and deliberately disrobed at the conclusion of the Augusta School Department meeting, while Blanchard, who is also known as “Corn Pop,” delivered a fervent speech.
“I’m about to show you guys how uncomfortable it is for girls,” Blanchard said as the women disrobed.
“You feel uncomfortable? Because that’s what these young girls feel like when a boy walks into their locker room and starts unchanging in front of them. That’s what these young girls feel like every time a young boy changes in front of them.”
The stunt drew a range of responses from the school board members, some outraged, a few averting their gaze, while others were entirely unbothered.
“This is Maine’s capital,” Blanchard continued. “We should be setting an example for the rest of the state. You know what example you guys are setting? That we do not care about the young girls in the rest of the state.”
Following the protest going viral locally, Blanchard said more than 150 people have contacted him in support of his stance on the Title IX policy, Central Maine reported.
“Do I think these tactics work in a way of changing policy? Probably not,” Blanchard told the outlet. “But the only way to get them to listen to us is to do something crazy and get in the national spotlight.”
The Augusta school board voted in favor of their current policy which adheres to the Maine Human Rights Act. That law allows a student athlete to participate on the team that corresponds with their gender identity, WGME reported.
President Trump signed an executive order in February aimed at keeping biological men out of women’s sports through Title IX.
The Maine demonstration comes on the heels of a similar stripping protest in California.
Local mom Beth Bourne, who chairs group Moms for Liberty, undressed down to her underwear at a Davis Joint Unified School Board meeting on Sept. 18 to protest the allowing of transgender students to use girls’ locker rooms.
Multiple individual school districts in both Maine and California have passed resolutions to support compliance with Trump’s executive order, Fox News reported.