AUGUSTA — Two bills aimed at preventing transgender athletes from participating in school sports divided lawmakers in the House of Representatives Friday.

The bills are unlikely to secure final passage as the Senate has signaled greater opposition on the issue. And both chambers have already rejected other bills seeking to prohibit transgender athletes from participating in girls sports and using girls restrooms and locker rooms, and seeking to redefine gender identity in the Maine Human Rights Act.

Still, the House voted 73-70 Friday night in support of LD 233, which would require schools receiving state funding to bar transgender athletes from participating in girls sports. Democrats Stephan Bunker of Farmington, Wayne Farrin of Jefferson, Dani O’Halloran of Brewer and David Rollins of Augusta joined Republicans in supporting the bill.

The House also narrowly rejected LD 868, a bill that would require sports to be designated male, female or coed, and would require students to use restrooms and changing rooms consistent with their gender assigned at birth. It was voted down 72-71 after lawmakers deadlocked 72-72 in an earlier vote. O’Halloran was the only Democrat who voted with Republicans in support of that bill.

During debate on the bills Friday, O’Halloran said the issue for her was one of fairness for female athletes. She said lawmakers do not know enough about the risks of having transgender girls compete in girls’ sports, but she believes they have a physical advantage over other girls. She warned, “compassion without wisdom is just as dangerous as wisdom without compassion.”

“This is not a question of denying anyone’s identity or dignity,” O’Halloran said. “I absolutely support the right to transition with proper guidance, but we also need to recognize that allowing transgender athletes in all-girls sports teams gives trans athletes an advantage that they would not otherwise have. And that to me is not fair.”

Neither LD 233 nor LD 868 has been taken up in the Senate yet, though they are unlikely to succeed there. Democrats and one Republican, Sen. Rick Bennett of Oxford, voted 21-14 Thursday night to reject a bill from Sen. Sue Bernard, R-Caribou, that would have prohibited transgender athletes from competing in girls sports in schools that receive state funding. LD 1134 also failed in the House on Friday, 73-72.

Bennett indicated Thursday night that he also plans to vote against other bills lawmakers will be taking up that seek to restrict transgender rights.

He said he was convinced to vote against LD 1134 after listening to public testimony and speaking with his constituents and his own daughter, whom he described as a “fierce and accomplished” athlete.

“I, too, feel sadness that these bills are before us,” he said, echoing his daughter. “Sadness that in a moment when we could be lifting up young people, we are entertaining proposals that single some of them out, setting them apart as ‘other.’ I’m saddened by the growing tendency to turn away from the better angels of our nature. Saddened by the pull toward a culture of fear, the politics of division, the hardening of silos, and the temptation to stigmatize those who are different.”

Tensions around the issue of transgender athletes in girls sports have mounted in Maine over the last few months after Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, posted about the issue on Facebook in February and the Trump administration then accused Maine of violating federal anti-discrimination law by allowing transgender girls to participate in girls high school sports.

Conflict with the administration — which is suing Maine over its policy — has added to both support for and opposition to the bills, which last month drew hundreds of people to the State House for a daylong public hearing.

The controversial bills are coming up for floor debates in the closing days of the session. LD 233 is the only bill focused on transgender athletes in girls sports without provisions about preventing transgender individuals from using restrooms and other facilities consistent with their gender identity – an issue that has already been decided by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

Still, some lawmakers who supported LD 233, including the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Dick Campbell, R-Orrington, said it didn’t present the perfect solution to a complicated issue. Campbell said he had hoped more work would have been done in committee to amend his bill and find a better plan, though he still urged fellow lawmakers to support the bill.

“The 132nd Legislature should be able to address this issue,” Campbell said. “I don’t have the solutions, but together we ought to be able to come up with one. I feel it’s unfortunate that this — the simplest of the titles — can’t at least be passed so we can amend it to do what’s necessary.”

The House voted Friday against several other Republicans transgender bills, including one from Rep. Mike Soboleski, R-Phillips, that would have redefined gender identity in the Maine Human Rights Act by including it under the definition of sexual orientation, a change Democrats argued would lead to discrimination in employment, housing, education and other areas. The Senate later voted against that bill as well.

Senate Republicans argued Thursday that transgender athletes should not be allowed to participate in girls sports because of biological differences that give them advantages, and because they can end up taking victories and podium spots from girls assigned female at birth.

Bernard, who sponsored LD 1134, said her intent was not to disrespect transgender people.

“I put forward this commonsense bill not to hurt anyone — and for anyone to think I could have a bad bone in my body against any child … that is not it at all,” she added. “I want to carve out a space — one space — where girls can have an actual chance to be winners.”

Democrats, however, opposed to the bill said they could not support it because it would make transgender students feel like they don’t belong.

Sen. Stacy Brenner, D-Scarborough, said that prohibiting transgender girls in girls sports would also be harmful to all girls, because such rules could lead to greater criticism and scrutiny of girls’ bodies.

“The effects would stretch far beyond just the young athletes this bill seeks to exclude,” Brenner said. “Imagine us putting our children in a position where they’re constantly questioning if they’re feminine enough, if their hair is long enough and if their height is average enough to avoid suspicion that they’re violating the law when they’re participating in everyday activities like playing soccer or using the bathroom.”

Democrats also pointed to the Maine Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in school activities based on gender identity, and legal precedent in arguing against prohibiting transgender students from participating in girls sports or using facilities designated for girls.

The inclusion of gender identity in the Maine Human Rights Act was the basis of a landmark 2014 Maine Supreme Judicial Court decision on bathroom access in which the court ruled that the town of Orono discriminated against Nicole Maines, a transgender student, by prohibiting her from using the female restroom.