This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Janet Mills, the Democrat governor of Maine who openly defied President Donald Trump's executive orders regarding men who say they are women and insist on competing in sports events reserved for women, now is facing a recall effort.

She earlier was targeted by the Department of Education for apparently violating Title IX laws after she slashed with Trump at a meeting of the National Governors Associatin.

The fight was over Trump's landmark executive order signed on February 5, which provided that biological men could not compete in women's sports. States that allow it will be subject to losing federal funding from the U.S. Department of Education.

Mills issued a statement publicly that she was refusing the president's order.

Now a report from the Center Square explains a recall campaign has been launched against her.

The report notes that it appears unlikely that the recall to remove her from office would succeed in the Democrat-majority state, but an online petition already has gathered some 30,000 signatures in just a week.

"The petitioner, Melissa Moulton, said she is 'deeply disappointed' in Mills' policies and the governor's pushback on President Donald Trump's efforts to prohibit transgender males from competing in women's sports," the report explained.

"I believe strongly that her policies are not in alignment with the wishes and values of the majority of Mainers," Moulton explained. "The feeling of disconnect between the populace and leadership is palpable and widespread."

The dispute is happening more and more often these days as advocates for the transgender lifestyle choice have been getting more and more aggressive.

They claim that it's discrimination to refuse permission for a man who says he is a woman to compete in women's sports. Actually, that argument ignores the rights of women in those sports, including the rights to privacy in intimate settings like showers and locker rooms.

The report noted, "Trump has vowed to withhold federal funding from any states that fail to comply with his executive order banning transgender athletes in girls' and women's sports."

Her response to the president was, "See you in court."

The report noted the investigation, by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights, determined that the Maine Department of Education is in violation of Title IX, a 1972 civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools that receive federal funding.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has the option of taking the state to court over the violations.

In Maine, while the law allows lawmakers to remove the governor by petition, it does not give the same right to citizens. And the Maine legislature is dominated by leftist Democats.

The report said Moulton wants residents to sign anyway, to "voice our collective dissent" to Mills' agenda.