Victor Davis Hanson: Gov. Janet Mills Doesn’t Know It Yet, But She’s an ‘Insurrectionist’

Apr 16, 2025

Victor Davis Hanson, a classicist and military historian, dives into the controversial stance of Maine's Governor Janet Mills on transgender participation in women’s sports. He argues that her actions represent an extreme interpretation of states’ rights, likening her to an 'insurrectionist' and a 'neo-Confederate.' Hanson references ancient literature to illustrate gender identity debates, highlighting how such issues reflect a significant cultural shift. He emphasizes the historical context and fairness challenges for women in athletics amidst the evolving landscape of gender identity.

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INSIGHT

Janet Mills as Neo-Confederate

Janet Mills' resistance to Trump's order is seen by Victor Davis Hanson as insurrectionary and neo-Confederate in spirit.
States' rights taken to extremes echo the old Confederacy's defiance against federal authority.

INSIGHT

States Resist Federal Authority at Risk

The legal stance on state resistance to federal orders varies; opposition should be challenged in courts with compliance if lost.
Refusal to comply outright resembles historical insurrection and neo-Confederacy.

INSIGHT

History and Rise of Trans Issues

Transsexualism and transgenderism have existed throughout ancient history in various forms.
Its recognition grew recently into a significant civil rights issue, with rising identification rates among young people.

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Is Gov. Janet Mills of Maine an ‘Neo-Confederate’?

Yes, and “she is taking states’ rights to the extreme,” argues Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.”

After refusing to comply with a Trump administration order banning men from competing in women’s high school sports, the Department of Justice launched a civil lawsuit against the Maine Department of Education for failing to protect women in women’s sports, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Wednesday.

“Janet Mills may not know it, but she's an insurrectionist. She's a neo-Confederate. She is taking states' rights to the extreme. Rather than saying, ‘I oppose the federal government. I will go to court to stop you. But if I lose, I will comply because the states are subordinate to the federal’ —she's not doing that. She's right in the spirit of the old Confederacy…

“I can cite you chapter and verse from the poems of Catullus to the novels of ‘Satyricon,’ of Petronius, ‘The Satyricon,’ of men who dress up like women. Both as transvestites who are still, I guess you'd say heterosexual, but they have a fetish to wear women's clothes or that who really want to be women. In the case of a poem or two, they castrate themselves. It's found in ancient history.

“And statistically, if you go back before this controversy happened, it was a very small number of the population. About less than 1% identified as transgendered or transsexual. Then it became, in the last decade, the next civil rights frontier. And all of a sudden, we had universities where students were polled at 10% or 20% or 30%, thought they might want to transition. It became almost a cult following.”

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