February 3, 2020: GLAD Civil Rights Project Director Mary L. Bonauto submitted testimony in opposition of LD 1791, An Act to Allow Certain Retired Law Enforcement Officers and Trained Law Enforcement Officers To Serve As School Security Officer.
This bill would allow a school administrator to employ a trained law enforcement officer as the school’s “school security officer.”
Portland, MAINE – Egalite Maine epi Rezo Transjèn Maine, in coalition with GLAD-GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders epi Lobi Fanm Maine, announced today that MaineCare, Maine’s Medicaid health program, will provide coverage for medically necessary care for transgender Mainers.
The historic announcement marks a significant change in MaineCare policy, removing an outdated and discriminatory exclusion of transition-related care from the regulations and adding vital standards of care that reflect current medical practices recognizing the healthcare needs of transgender individuals. These changes bring MaineCare policy into alignment with the professional medical community and into compliance with both state and federal law, including the Affordable Care Act.
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), following last year’s leadership changes and with input from LGBTQ advocacy organizations and community members, began to make necessary changes this spring to reflect medical standards regarding comprehensive healthcare coverage for transgender individuals. In June, DHHS adopted an emergency rule eliminating transgender procedures from the list of non-covered services. This policy change is now in compliance with LD 1, passed earlier this year by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Mills, which enshrined the language of Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and its adjoining regulations into state law, and prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, or disability in health plans in Maine. On September 16, the new DHHS rule took effect.
Under the new rule, medical providers will be reimbursed for providing MaineCare covered services to treat patients with gender dysphoria, a clinical diagnosis. Coverage for medically necessary surgical services related to gender dysphoria will require prior authorization. Gender dysphoria is a conflict between a person’s gender identity and the sex assigned to that person at birth. The American Psychiatric Association says it is often accompanied by extreme distress, which can interfere with the ability to function in everyday life. Criteria for determining medically necessary care will be based on consensus professional medical standards, such as the Standards of Care (SOC) of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH).
“Trans people, like myself, need access to affordable healthcare to stay healthy and when we become ill or injured. Some in our community may need additional care as part of our transition, but because trans health is so widely misunderstood it’s often a huge barrier to get the care we need to live a full, healthy, and productive life. Access to medically necessary healthcare is literally life-saving, especially for trans people, and it’s remarkable that thousands of Mainers will now have this coverage available to them” said EqualityMaine’s program director, Gia Drew.
According to the 2015 US Trans Survey Maine Report, 23% of trans people in Maine experienced a problem with their insurance related to being transgender in the prior year, such as being denied coverage for care related to gender transition or being denied coverage for routine care because they were transgender.
“Trans people face significant economic barriers to accessing care, and more than 1 in 3 trans people have declined to access care of any kind because they could not afford it. Making MaineCare specifically trans inclusive is a vital step towards eliminating these barriers. Of the more than 1200 resource and referral requests MaineTransNet received in 2018, more than a quarter of them were about MaineCare coverage of transition care. This is an urgent need, and meeting it will save and improve lives,” says Quinn Gormley (She/hers), Executive Director, MaineTransNet
Maine proudly joins 22 other states, including the rest of New England, to explicitly cover transition and gender affirming care in our state medicaid program.
Mainers are eligible for insurance through MaineCare if their annual income is less than $17,232 for a single person or $29,436 for a family of three. For more information about getting MaineCare, connect with Consumers for Affordable Health Care oubyen Maine Equal Justice. Mainers with incomes above the MaineCare threshold but less than $49,960 for a single person or than $85,320 for a family of three may be eligible for lower monthly premiums through the health insurance marketplace at HealthCare.gov; open enrollment runs from November 1, 2019 – December 15, 2019. For those already enrolled in MaineCare, these benefits should be available effective immediately, though billing codes and prior authorizations may be delayed.
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Founded in 1984, Egalite Maine is dedicated to creating a fair and just society for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Mainers. We envision the day when lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons and their families have full equality in the hearts and minds of Maine people and in all areas of the law.
MaineTransNet is Maine’s only organization specifically dedicated to supporting and empowering transgender people through community and health access and advocacy. With more than 30 peer based support groups from Kittery to Presque Isle, and more than a thousand support requests answered annually, MaineTransNet is the largest statewide transgender support organization in the United States.
Atravè litij estratejik, defans politik piblik, ak edikasyon, Avoka ak defansè legal GLBTQ yo ap travay nan Nouvèl Angletè ak nan tout peyi a pou kreye yon sosyete jis, san diskriminasyon ki baze sou idantite ak ekspresyon sèks, estati VIH, ak oryantasyon seksyèl.
The Maine Women’s Lobby was founded in 1978 and is dedicated to legislative action on behalf of Maine’s women and girls. The Maine Women’s Lobby believes women and girls should have economic security, access to health care, and freedom from violence and discrimination
(Boston, MA) GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) is thrilled to announce the appointment of three new board members: Jessyca Feliciano, Matthew McGuirk, and Spencer Icasiano. These individuals have served the LGBTQ community for many years and bring robust experience in the areas of corporate diversity, financial development, and technology user experience.
“With their commitment to GLAD’s mission and work, Jessyca, Matthew, and Spencer’s diverse talents will add to the Board’s strength, making us even more ready to face the challenges ahead. We are excited to welcome three people with such varied professional backgrounds and passion for LGBTQ equality,” said Executive Director Janson Wu.
Jessyca Feliciano is a Vice President of Employee Relations at State Street Corporation, helping manage the relationships between the organization and its employees. Prior to joining State Street, Jessyca held positions of increasing responsibility in corporate and non-profit organizations, most recently with Mass Mutual as a Human Resources Business Partner supporting the Data Science and Digital Design corporate groups and their leaders. In addition to her primary responsibilities, Jessyca also served as a diversity and inclusion liaison, holding the business accountable for implementing diversity best practices and strategies. She started her career in social work working with at risk youth in underprivileged communities, always focusing on creating opportunities of inclusion, which is still something very close to her heart. Jessyca earned a Master of Education with a focus on Organizational Development and Leadership from Cambridge College’s Graduate School of Education, and a Bachelor’s in Social Work from Roberts Wesleyan College.
Matye McGuirk is a Financial Advisor with Morgan Stanley. He has worked in asset & wealth management for over 20 years, currently focusing his practice on serving the LGBTQ community. In his public service life, he serves on several boards & committees that support this community and is honored to begin work on the Development Committee of GLAD’s Board. Matt particularly looks forward to building bridges between organizations with which he has ties, such as the MA LGBT Chamber of Commerce where he is a founding partner, and other non-profits such as Community Research Initiative where he is a member of the Board; Fenway Health where he is a member of the Board of Visitors; and the Human Rights Campaign, where he is a member of the New England Steering Committee and Co-Chair of the Federal Club for New England. Outside of his advocacy work, Matt also enjoys theater, and serves on the Board of Directors of New Repertory Theater. While he is committed to all areas of GLAD’s work, he has a particular interest in protecting children and the elderly and has been involved with organizations such as the LGBT Community Center and SAGE. He is a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College, and holds an Executive Certificate in Financial Planning from Georgetown University and a Master of Science in Financial Planning from Bentley University.
Spencer Icasiano is a product designer at HubSpot, and a user experience specialist who has held previous positions at Care.com and Wayfair. Spencer has consulted on and designed tech platforms that create seamless experiences for clients and customers. In addition to their day job, they work as a contributing writer for 90.9 WBUR, covering primarily QTPOC (queer and trans people of color) artists and activists whose cultural impacts are directly shaping the future of Boston. The beginning of Spencer’s connection to GLAD was as a resource – GLAD provided support to Spencer through a violent and transphobic landlord situation, as well as gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment instances in their career. Spencer’s natural inquisitiveness and pursuit of justice has spilled over into other areas of their life and thanks in part to GLAD’s impact they’ve been able to successfully advocate for employee environment and policy improvements and consulted on inclusive hiring practices at public tech companies. Spencer’s public speaking skills have been cultivated at professional conferences, engineering bootcamps, and local institutions—from world-class universities to Fortune 100 corporations—where they lead talks and workshops on topics of cultural competency and organizational change. Spencer earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Writing from Emerson College.
Jessyca, Matthew and Spencer join current board members Joyce Kauffman (President), Darian Butcher (Vice President), Marlene Seltzer (Treasurer), Leila Bailey-Stewart, Edward Byrne, Francisco Cabas, Martha Holt Castle, Fred Csibi-Levin, Liz Doherty, Shane Dunn, Joseph Garland, George Hastie, David Hayter, Dianne Phillips, Lee Swislow, and Richard Yurko.
Atravè litij estratejik, defans politik piblik, ak edikasyon, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders ap travay nan New England ak nan tout peyi a pou kreye yon sosyete jis san diskriminasyon ki baze sou idantite ak ekspresyon sèks, estati VIH, ak oryantasyon seksyèl.
GLAD believes all young people should be valued and supported by their families, communities and our larger societal institutions. Yet, an astonishing number of young people don’t receive the support they need. Some are harmed by biased discipline and policing at school and in their communities, and others face outright rejection of who they are from these support structures, which results in mental health and behavioral challenges. In turn, these harms and rejections contribute to both youth homelessness and youth incarceration. This devastating school-to-prison pipeline disproportionately impacts LGBTQ youth, youth of color, youth with fewer economic resources, and youth with disabilities.
Our youth need and deserve better, and we are working with partners and other youth advocates to create broad and deep changes to school, corrections and child welfare systems, in order to ensure a world in which young people are valued and supported.
LGBTQ and gender-expansive youth are over represented in child welfare systems. Senior Staff Attorney Patience Crozier is working on a number of issues in the child welfare realm, including collaborating on a model national policy to guide child welfare agencies on best practices for LGBTQ youth in care, working with local systems on policies to affirm and protect LGBTQ youth, and providing education and legal technical assistance to youth and to attorneys on accessing gender-affirming medical care.
Among our juvenile justice strategies, GLAD is advocating in Maine for bills that improve the experiences of young people in the court system while holding young people accountable for their actions and creating safer communities. With sustained advocacy from GLAD attorneys Mary Bonauto and Patience Crozier, Maine is currently considering legislation to divert youth from the criminal system. This bill would set a minimum age for criminal jurisdiction and incarceration, provide appointed counsel after “dispositions” to probation or incarceration, and require judicial review of incarcerated youth’s progress to ensure they are placed in the least restrictive setting appropriate to their circumstances.
An additional pending bill would introduce to Maine the practice of sealing juvenile records upon completion of their dispositions so that they are not stigmatized when applying to jobs or housing, or going to school. Currently, young people must wait years after they finish their sentences to petition a court to seal their records. Also for youth in school, a bill signed in May requires the State Department of Education to provide all public elementary and secondary schools with a model discipline policy including “policies that focus on positive and restorative interventions designed to strengthen relationships, improve the connection to school and promote a strong sense of accountability,” and technical assistance to schools to implement those policies. Restorative justice practices can be a powerful and effective alternative to school suspension, which is part of the school-to-prison pipeline.
In pursuit of systemic changes, Mary Bonauto also serves on the Maine Juvenile Justice System Assessment and Reinvestment Task Force as an LGBTQ community advocate. The Task Force was established to develop a continuum of community-based alternatives to incarceration for youth. Mary additionally serves on the Maine Law Court Standing Committee on Justice for Children, chaired by Maine Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Leigh Saufley. This Committee focuses on the child welfare system, which is another area requiring attention for LGBTQ youth and LGBTQ families.
On May 24, the Trump Administration announced a new proposed rule that would change the interpretation of the Affordable Care Act’s nondiscrimination provision to no longer include LGBTQ people.
It is alarming that the Trump administration is leveling yet another attack on the rights of LGBTQ people.
But, there are a couple of important things to note:
First, this is only the announcement of a proposed rule change. Nothing is changing right now.
The next step is a required period for public comment, which means we can all weigh in with our concerns about this proposal, and we encourage you to do so. We won’t know for sure what the final rule will look like until that public comment period is over.
If you’d like to take action, visit www.protecttranshealth.org to add your comment on why you oppose this proposed rule.
Second, no matter what the final rule says, the Trump administration cannot change the law on a whim.
Federal law has been interpreted by multiple federal courts to prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ people, in cases that apply in the health care context. Those decisions are controlling; the meaning and scope of federal protections ultimately turns on federal court interpretation, not that of the administration.
We also have strong state laws and regulations across New England that protect you from discrimination and protect your right to access health care. The proposed federal rule change does not alter those state laws. Contact us at www.GLADAnswers.org if you need more information.
The bottom line is that nothing is changing right now, and you still have rights to nondiscriminatory health care – but the Trump administration is working to make it harder for you to enforce those rights.
GLAD will be closely monitoring developments, and if you think you are being treated differently, or are experiencing discrimination, please kontakte nou right away.
On May 13, 2019, GLAD Civil Rights Project Director Mary Bonauto submitted testimony to the Maine Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety in support of LD 1632, An Act Regarding Criminal Procedure with Respect to Allowable Offenses – a bill that limits so-called “gay panic” and “trans panic” defenses.
All people, including LGBT people, do not cause or deserve to be attacked simply because of who they are. LGBT people engage in the same human behaviors that non-LGBT people commonly do, such as making romantic or sexual advances to another person, or engaging in dating, romantic or sexual relationships. When violence to an LGBT person follows those advances or relationships, it should not be justified as an appropriate reaction or excused as not morally blameworthy any more than it would be if the overtures or relationships involved a non-LGBT person. Anything else sends the unmistakable message that violence against the LGBT community is justified. GLAD supports this bill’s bright line test to limit certain otherwise available defenses in circumstances where the person who made advances or engaged in a relationship is known or discovered to be an LGBT person.
Join us at Pride Portland!
Jèn LGBTQ yo gen plis chans pou yo vin enplike nan sistèm jistis pou minè yo akòz risk ogmante yo pou yo rejte nan men pwòp fanmi yo, arasman ak diskriminasyon nan lekòl ak lòt kote, ak defi yo rankontre ki vin apre, tankou pi move sante mantal ak ogmantasyon risk pou yo vin sanzabri. Poutèt sa, GLAD gen yon enterè patikilye nan refòm jistis pou minè epi li sipòte fòtman LD 1304 – Yon Lwa pou Soulaje Fado Finansye pou Minè ki Enplike nan Sistèm Jistis la.
Pèsonn pa vle yon sistèm jistis pou minè ki baze sou anyen lòt ke jistis. Pou sistèm nan fonksyone, li dwe jis pou delenkan yo ak viktim krim yo, ansanm ak pou sosyete a an jeneral. Sepandan, yon fason enpòtan kote Kòd pou Minè Maine (MJC) la pa rive kenbe pwomès sa a se enpak disproporsyonèl ke lòd restitisyon yo genyen sou jèn pòv yo.
Povrete se pa yon krim epi li pa ta dwe trete kòm youn. Men, MJC aktyèl la pèmèt yon jij pran an kont kapasite yon timoun oswa akò li pou peye restitisyon nan desizyon pou mete yo nan prizon, sa ki asire efektivman ke plis timoun pòv ap fini dèyè bawo. Lè yo bay lòd pou yon timoun peye restitisyon epi li pa kapab fè sa, MJC a pèmèt tribinal pou minè yo konsidere timoun nan kòm yon mepri epi mete yo nan prizon kòm rezilta. Pèsonn—sitou yon timoun—pa ta dwe nan prizon paske yo pa kapab peye.
LD 1304 adrese echèk Kòd Jivenil Maine lan lè li:
Chanjman sa yo pral ogmante jistis Kòd Jivenil Maine lan epi mete l pi ann akò ak objektif reyabilitasyon li.
Lè l mete yon plafon sou lòd restitisyon yo epi lye yo ak kapasite pou peye, LD 1304 la kanpe pou prensip ke pa gen okenn timoun ki ta dwe nan prizon paske yo pa kapab peye restitisyon. GLAD dakò epi li ankouraje Komite Jidisyè a pou l avanse pwojè lwa sa a epi pou l konsidere amannman sa yo: (1) bese plafon an; epi (2) limite restitisyon an pou peman pou moun olye de peman pou gouvènman leta oswa lokal yo.
Ou ka jwenn tout temwayaj Mary Bonauto a isit la.
Today’s event, Day of Silence, is a student-led action to spread awareness about the impact of bullying on LGBTQ youth. By taking a vow of silence, young people embody the erasure and exclusion that many LGBTQ students experience on a daily basis. LGBTQ students face verbal, physical and sexual harassment in higher rates than the general student population. For so many, school is and feels unsafe.
The Massachusetts LGBTQ Youth Commission just issued its annual report and recommendations and the data are stunning. LGBTQ students face almost two times the risk of bullying at school and face over three times the risk of self-harm and suicide then their non-LGBTQ peers.
We all must act to change our schools and make them more inclusive and supportive.
On this Day of Silence, we can take steps to support our youth and send them a clear message — we see you, we value you, and we will fight with you to make schools safer.
I want to suggest two concrete actions we can all take.
First, advocate for policies in schools and school districts that comprehensively affirm and protect LGBTQ students, particularly transgender students. Throughout New England, where GLAD works closely on school issues, the law is clear that schools cannot discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. But each school district and each school should translate those legal protections into a clear policy that is disseminated throughout the community of students, parents, guardians, faculty, staff and administrators to ensure that those legal protections are understood and implemented in our schools. Policies such as the transgender and gender expansive student policy implemented in Portland, Maine, in late 2017 show how districts can affirm and support students through clear, common-sense policies.
Second, work to change state laws about what our youth learn in schools. Having LGBTQ history and experience incorporated into curricula and ensuring that reproductive and sexual health education are affirming are important to creating inclusive environments for all youth in schools. Now pending in Massachusetts, the Healthy Youth Act (H. 410) would ensure that Massachusetts schools with sexual health education classes include affirmative recognition and support for diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. Incorporating these conversations into classes, affirming queer identities in a positive way, and deconstructing societal and media messages are all effective ways to normalize diversity within sexuality and health.
On this Day of Silence, we can take these steps to support our youth and send them a clear message — we see you, we value you, and we will fight with you to make schools safer.
Young people – LGBTQ themselves and their siblings – kicked off the public hearing in favor of protecting minors from conversion therapy yesterday, joined by medical and legal experts, clergy and advocates, who testified yesterday before the Joint Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance, and Financial Services.
A 12-year-old girl testified how terrible it would be for her transgender brother if he were forced to change, and LGBTQ young people shared their overwhelming dread of conversion therapy even compared to other types of mistreatment.
As with a similar bill last session, several licensed therapists acknowledged the bill would affect their practices.
“I ask you to think about this: If a child or adolescent grows up in a world that devalues their identity, and is exposed to bullying and ostracism, and then is told by a mental health professional that who they are and what they feel is wrong, shameful, and flawed and must be changed — then that young person will be harmed,” said Dr. Judith Glassgold, Director of Professional Affairs for the New Jersey Psychological Association, in her testimony before the joint committee. Dr. Glassgold was a leader in the two landmark assessments of conversion therapy, one from the American Psychological Association in 2009 and another with the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in 2015.
“The increased rates of serious emotional distress among LGBT youth are not a function of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” Glassgold continued. “Rather, these risks stem from the stresses of prejudice, discrimination, rejection, harassment, and violence. But we can help, at least, by protecting youth from conversion therapy by licensed professionals.”
Dr. Glassgold’s complete testimony can be read isit la.
Also testifying yesterday was Mary Bonauto, Civil Rights Project Director for GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders and a resident of Portland, Maine, who reminded Committee members of the state’s “established and long-standing authority to regulate the conduct of licensed providers of healthcare and medical treatment, especially with respect to minors.”
“Banning conversion therapy helps steer parents clear of fraudulent practitioners who would harm rather than help their children,” said Bonauto following the hearing. “The state absolutely has the power and in fact, the responsibility, to regulate harmful medical treatment by licensed providers.”
Currently, 16 states ban the discredited practice, including Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and, most recently, Massachusetts. Last year, Maine’s lawmakers overwhelmingly supported a ban, but then-Governor Paul LePage vetoed the legislation.
Numerous Maine medical and mental health organizations testified in favor of the bill, including the Maine Medical Association, the Maine Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the National Association of Social Workers, the National Institute of Mental Illness, as well as the Maine Psychological Association, the Maine Association of Psychiatric Physicians and the Gender Clinic of Maine Medical Center.
The practice of conversion therapy has been condemned by The American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, American Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, American Counseling Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Psychoanalytic Association, Australian Psychological Society, British Psychological Association, Endocrine Society, National Association of Social Workers, Psychological Society of Ireland, Psychological Society of South Africa, and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health.
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