SIMS: Maine Women Deserve Better

Platner’s Misogyny and Mills’ Policies Both Betray Biological Women and Girls

Maine Women Deserve Better: Platner and Mills Both Betray Maine’s Women and Girls!

Maine’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate has become a stark choice between two candidates who, in very different ways, have turned their backs on the safety, fairness, and dignity of biological women and girls. Graham Platner, the progressive oyster farmer and combat veteran challenging the establishment, has a documented history of crude, victim-blaming rhetoric toward sexual assault survivors. Governor Janet Mills, the two-term incumbent now seeking higher office, has weaponized those very words in a slick March 2026 attack ad—while simultaneously enforcing policies that open women’s sports, locker rooms, bathrooms, and prisons to biological males. Neither candidate prioritizes female reality over ideology. Both represent the worst of partisan extremes: Platner backed by Bernie Sanders-style progressivism, Mills by Chuck Schumer’s establishment wing. Maine women deserve far better than this false choice.

Platner’s Toxic Past: Victim-Blaming, Slurs, and Shallow Redemption

In 2013 Reddit posts under the handle “P-Hustle,” Platner dismissed sexual assault risks with blunt misogyny. Responding to discussions about military sexual assault and even “anti-rape” underwear, he wrote: “Rape is a real thing, if you’re so worried about it to buy Kevlar underwear you’d think you might not get blacked out f—ked up around people you aren’t comfortable with.” He added, “Act like an adult for fs sake,” “take some responsibility for themselves,” and warned against losing self-control to alcohol and ending up “having sex with someone they don’t mean to.” These weren’t abstract musings; a sexual assault survivor confronted him directly at a Bucksport town hall in late 2025. Her story mirrored the exact scenario he mocked—she never reported her assault out of fear that attitudes like his would brand her responsible. She demanded “true remorse,” not platitudes.

Platner’s October 2025 apology video on X attempted damage control. He expressed regret to “those who have encountered these statements and felt hurt,” blaming “disillusionment” after military service in Iraq and Afghanistan and dismissing some comments as “infantry humor.” Yet he has never fully disavowed the underlying worldview. His Reddit archive (over 1,800 posts from 2009–2021) reveals more: he asked, “Why don’t black people tip?” in a thread about racial questions; called rural white Americans “racist and stupid”; identified as a “communist” in 2021; used anti-LGBTQ slurs; and posted “ACAB” (All Cops Are Bastards) rhetoric. In 2007, as a Marine, he got a chest tattoo of a skull and crossbones that closely resembles the Nazi Totenkopf (SS “death’s head”)—chosen, he claims, because it looked “fearsome” while drunk on liberty in Croatia. He covered it with a Celtic knot and dog imagery only after it surfaced during the campaign, insisting he had no idea of its Nazi associations.

These revelations forced repeated apologies, yet Platner has pivoted to dismiss women’s sports protections as “billionaire propaganda.” In a March 2026 Slate podcast, he called Republican concerns an “invented culture-war scare” funded by out-of-state donors like Richard Uihlein, claiming it distracts from taxes and that “there are like two trans kids” competing in Maine high school sports. This isn’t empathy for women—it’s contempt for their lived reality of physical differences in strength, speed, and safety.

Mills’ Assault on Female Spaces: Policy Over Biology

Meanwhile, Mills’ March 17, 2026 attack ad features Maine women reading Platner’s words aloud, gasping that they are “horrible,” “disgusting,” and “disqualifying.” Fair enough—until you examine her record. Since 2005, Maine’s Human Rights Act has barred discrimination on the basis of “gender identity,” which the state interprets to mean biological males identifying as women must be granted access to female sports, bathrooms, locker rooms, and prisons. When President Trump issued his 2025 executive order clarifying Title IX to protect female athletics and spaces by biological sex, Mills fired back: “See you in court.” The Maine Principals’ Association continued allowing males on girls’ teams. Federal agencies (HHS, DOJ, Education) launched investigations, finding Maine in violation; the state settled some USDA threats without changing policy and spun the standoff as a “win” for “trans youth.”

Nowhere is this more dangerous than in Maine’s prisons. Department of Corrections Policy 23.08 (originally 2015, revised 2023) mandates case-by-case housing based on gender identity after a dysphoria review, prioritizing affirmation over biological sex. Enter Andrea Balcer—formerly Andrew Balcer—who in 2016, at age 17, stabbed her mother Alice nine times in the back, her father Antonio 37 times, and the family dog before calmly calling police. Sentenced to 40 years in 2018, Balcer later claimed the killings stemmed from parental resistance to her transition. After identifying as female, Balcer (6’1″, approximately 245–310 lbs depending on records) was transferred to the women’s pod at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham.

Female inmates have endured hell. Multiple women (at least six, possibly up to 11–12 per reports) have filed complaints since Balcer’s arrival: groping, forced kisses in bathrooms, kissing the thighs of sleeping inmates, verbal threats to “smother” or “impregnate” them, and cornering victims. One inmate, Katie Mountain, detailed in a letter being pulled from her bunk and assaulted, with complaints met by retaliation from staff. The DOC temporarily segregates under PREA standards but often returns Balcer to the women’s unit. This isn’t abstract—it mirrors national failures in California (male rapists in women’s prisons) and elsewhere. The Trump DOJ even canceled $1.5 million in grants for substance abuse and family programs over Maine’s refusal to protect female inmates by sex. Mills’ administration defends the policy as compassionate and legal.

Two Sides of the Same Disregard for Women

Here are the key comparisons in a clear, readable list format:

Women’s Safety

Platner’s Record/Stance: Blamed assault victims; weak “infantry humor” apology
Mills’ Policy/Record: Houses violent males like Balcer (double murderer) with women; ignores 6–12+ complaints

Sports/Fairness

Platner’s Record/Stance: Dismisses concerns as “billionaire propaganda” and “invented culture-war scare”
Mills’ Policy/Record: Defies Trump Title IX order; allows males on girls’ teams; at impasse with feds

Prisons

Platner’s Record/Stance: Aligns with progressive denial of sex-based risks
Mills’ Policy/Record: DOC Policy 23.08 enables male housing by identity; DOJ cuts $1.5M grants

Facilities

Platner’s Record/Stance: Past misogyny and slurs show contempt
Mills’ Policy/Record: Mandates male access to female bathrooms/locker rooms per MHRA

Attacks on Women

Platner’s Record/Stance: Edgelord Reddit posts, racial/anti-LGBTQ language
Mills’ Policy/Record: Weaponizes Platner’s words in ads while enabling real harm

Platner punches down with toxic online bravado. Mills institutionalizes male intrusion through state power. Temporary PREA segregation for Balcer changes nothing long-term—just as it hasn’t prevented scandals elsewhere. A 2026 citizen initiative to designate school sports, bathrooms, and facilities by biological sex has qualified for the November ballot with over 71,000 valid signatures, despite Mills’ opposition. Voters may finally get their say.

Maine women and girls are not collateral damage in a culture war. Platner’s Nazi-linked tattoo, victim-blaming, and slurs reveal a man who once viewed women’s boundaries as punchlines. Mills’ policies treat female safety as optional in the name of ideology. Neither speaks for the majority of Mainers who understand basic biology: men and women are not interchangeable. They represent Washington extremes, not Maine common sense.

Reject them both. Maine women deserve leaders who put female safety, fairness, and reality first. Vote accordingly—biological reality is not bigotry. It is the bare minimum we owe our daughters, sisters, and mothers.

Call to Action for Mainers

Maine women and girls are counting on you. The time to act is now.

In the June 9, 2026 Democratic primary, reject both Graham Platner and Janet Mills. Platner’s history of victim-blaming misogyny and Mills’ policies that force biological males into women’s sports, bathrooms, locker rooms, and prisons show neither puts female safety and fairness first. Vote for a candidate—or write in support for one—who will defend biological reality over ideology.

Then, this November 3, 2026, make your voice heard on the statewide ballot. The citizen initiative “An Act to Designate School Sports Participation and Facilities by Sex” (backed by Protect Girls Sports in Maine) has qualified with over 71,000 valid signatures. It would protect girls’ sports, private facilities, and fairness by basing participation on biological sex as recorded on birth certificates—not gender identity. A simple majority “Yes” vote will restore common-sense protections that the legislature and Maine Principals’ Association have failed to deliver.

Don’t let Washington extremes or partisan denial win. Talk to your family, friends, and neighbors. Share this piece. Volunteer with or donate to groups supporting the referendum. Get informed, register to vote (or check your status at maine.gov/sos/cec/elec), and show up at the polls.
Maine women deserve better. Biological reality is not bigotry—it’s the foundation of fairness and safety. Stand up for your daughters, sisters, and mothers. Vote to protect them in June and November 2026. The future of Maine’s girls depends on it. The website for Maine Girl Dads (the coalition of fathers advocating to protect girls’ sports and sex-based spaces in Maine schools) is: https://mainegirldads.com/ this is their official site, where they describe themselves as a non-political group of over 8,000+ dads focused on designating school sports, bathrooms, and locker rooms by biological sex. They helped launch and support the related “Protect Girls Sports in Maine” ballot initiative. For the closely related petition/effort site mentioned in connection with the referendum. https://protectgirlssportsinmaine.com/