All youth in Maine should be safe at school, including LGBTQ+ youth. This ought to be obvious. So we are all deeply disappointed to see that playbooks used in other states that fearmonger about transgender young people in our communities have made their way to Maine. It is deeply hurtful to see young people’s lives become the subject of attack ads and controversy that disrupt their and their families’ lives.
Whether you’re a parent, teacher or community member, we all know that young people do best when they are seen, loved and supported. We all want kids to feel that support and care, and to succeed at school and in life. LGBTQ+ youth, including transgender youth, need and deserve that same support and care.
We understand that not everyone knows a transgender person and may have questions. We are all here to engage with you about those questions. Some of us are transgender and grew up here. All of us know that LGBTQ+ youth, including transgender youth, are part of our communities and with support, are succeeding in ways that would make anyone proud.
The Department of Education should be applauded for its stance on supporting all LGBTQ+ students, families and staff, and its recognition that every student deserves a safe and equitable school environment. We also recognize and appreciate that teachers do the hard work of helping young people learn in ways that are age- and educationally- appropriate. The Department can do more to build out its commitment and to support schools and teachers in this work. Organizations like ours are advocating for parents and families who seek safe, supportive, and successful schools across Maine.
There is a need for more conversations and action to ensure every child gets the support and education they need to succeed. But let’s not pretend that the wake of an attack ad is the time or place for it.
Signed,
ACLU Maine
Equality Maine
GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD)
Maine Women’s Lobby
Out Maine
LD 1539 will for the first time require private insurers in Maine to cover fertility care
Governor Janet Mills signed LD 1539, An Act to Provide Access to Fertility Care, on May 2, 2022, and today will hold a ceremonial signing for the law in Augusta. The law requires private health insurance policies in Maine to provide coverage for medical interventions including fertility diagnostic care, fertility treatment, and medically necessary fertility preservation.
Resolve New England (RNE), a non-profit organization that provides support, education and advocacy for fertility patients, led the coalition to support LD 1539, which included LGBTQ legal advocacy organization GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD).
RNE and GLAD issued the following statements praising Governor Mills for signing the bill:
“We hear daily from people across New England who are struggling with fertility and family building. Without insurance coverage, many individuals and couples in Maine are going deeply in debt to try to make their dreams of parenthood come true, if they can even afford to try at all,” said Kate Weldon LeBlanc, Executive Director of Resolve New England. “We’re thrilled to see Governor Mills sign this important, pro-family legislation. This new law will considerably improve access to fertility care for all Mainers hoping to grow their families, including couples with infertility, LGBTQ+ people, cancer survivors and more.”
“Fertility care is critical care for so many people, including LGBTQ+ people. Yet, without insurance coverage, it is out of reach for many due to the cost,” said Polly Crozier, Senior Staff Attorney at GLAD, who was joined in their testimony by EqualityMaine. “We’re grateful to the Legislature and to Governor Mills for their action ensuring fertility coverage that is inclusive and best practice.”
GLAD Attorney Mary Bonauto added, “Fertility is an issue for many people, and this care will allow people to bring children into their lives when they are otherwise unable to do so. This law will more equitably support Maine people in building their families and will provide more families with access to quality, timely care.”
The bill’s effective date is 1/1/24 and allows the Bureau of Insurance time to address “reasonable limitations” on coverage. With the enactment of LD 1539, Maine joins states across the country that have recognized it is sound public policy to help people build their families and allow them to love and nurture our next generation of Mainers. New Hampshire passed a coverage bill in 2019, and fertility care laws in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island have been in place for decades and have become part of the fabric of the states’ health care systems. With LD 1539, 20 states across the country now have fertility insurance laws, including all the New England states except for Vermont.
The Maine Human Rights Commission by a 3-2 vote today issued a finding of reasonable grounds that an assisted living facility violated state nondiscrimination law by turning away a transgender woman. The Commission’s action followed an investigation in the discrimination complaint filed by GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) on behalf of Marie King, a 79-year-old woman who was denied a room by Sunrise Assisted Living because she is transgender. It is the first known discrimination complaint filed in the U.S. by a transgender older adult against a long-term care facility.
Marie King
“Being turned away because I’m transgender was wrong and it hurt,” said Ms. King. “It’s a relief to have the Commission recognize that. I know I’m not the only person this has happened to and I hope my case leads to better understanding.”
“This is a significant finding for Ms. King and for other transgender older adults who face similar barriers when seeking the care many of us need as we age,” said GLAD Staff Attorney Chris Erchull. “The Commission’s action sends a clear message both to transgender people and to long-term care facilities that turning someone away because they are transgender violates the legal protections meant to ensure equal treatment for everyone.”
In the spring of 2021, a social worker at Pen Bay Medical Center contacted Sunrise on behalf of Ms. King, who was a patient at the hospital. The facility initially said there was a room available, but upon learning that Ms. King is transgender Sunrise informed the hospital they would not admit her because they were concerned she wanted to reside in a room with a female roommate.
The Commission made a finding of reasonable grounds that Sunrise discriminated against her on the basis of her gender identity, transgender status, and her sex, all protected under the Maine Human Rights Act. The Commission will now bring the parties together to attempt to resolve the matter and, failing that, Ms. King’s case may proceed to court.
“We have nondiscrimination protections in our laws to ensure we are all treated equally and to address the profound harm people experience when they are not,” said GLAD Senior Attorney Ben Klein. “When Marie was denied a room at Sunrise because she is a transgender woman it was dehumanizing and it impacted her health, forcing her to stay in the hospital longer than was recommended by her medical team. The outcome we are all working toward is long-term care facilities where everyone who needs them is welcomed with courtesy and respect.”
Research indicates that transgender older adults are as likely as or even more likely than other older adults to require long-term care, including assisted living, due to the adverse health consequences of long histories of anti-transgender stigma and bias. Yet, as Ms. King’s case shows, transgender adults face systemic and widespread barriers when seeking care and support as they age.
“Today’s finding presents an opportunity to reinforce a core value shared by those who provide long-term care: that all of us are entitled to dignity and respect as we age,” added GLAD Civil Rights Project Director and Maine Attorney Mary Bonauto. “That is all Marie and other transgender older adults are asking for and it is what the Commission has confirmed the law requires.”
On March 3, 2022, Mary L. Bonauto submitted testimony on behalf of GLAD, MaineTrans.Net, and Equality Maine in support of LD 1479, An Act to Make Certain Traffic Infractions Secondary Offenses.
LD 1479 lists certain offenses as not a justification for a traffic stop: littering, failing to register or display a registration, failing to display an inspection sticker, and some equipment issues. This bill would provide one way to proactively address harms and build equity into a law enforcement area that often involves racial profiling and can lead to escalation. Traffic stops are the most common form of law enforcement interaction with the American public, and officers disproportionately stop and cite Black, Brown, and Indigenous drivers.
Limiting traffic infraction stops that too often serve as pretext for searches and arrests is one of many necessary steps to disrupt patterns of oppression and violence in policing to historically marginalized people.
An Act to Provide Consistency in the Laws Regarding Domestic Partners OTP
On January 14, GLAD submitted testimony in support of Maine LD 1804, An Act to Provide Consistency in the Laws Regarding Domestic Partners, along with MaineTrans.Net, Equality Maine, ACLU of Maine, and Maine Women’s Lobby.
Civil Rights Project Director Mary L Bonauto explains in this testimony:
This bill would streamline the definitions of “domestic partner” in Maine law to focus on the Probate Code definition of “domestic partner.” This would update and declutter the law by removing multiple definitional sections or clauses, and use the definition that the term “domestic partner… means one of 2 unmarried adults who are domiciled together under long-term agreements that evidence a commitment to remain responsible indefinitely for each other’s welfare.”
No one should have to choose between a paycheck and caring for a loved one. Paid family and medical leave policies should be inclusive of all kinds of families.
GLAD, together with EqualityMaine, MaineTransNet, ACLU of Maine, and Maine Women’s Lobby, is urging the Commission to Develop a Paid Family and Medical Leave Benefits Program to adopt an inclusive definition of family to ensure families of all kinds have the ability to take care of each other when the need arises.
An investigation by the Center for Children’s Law and Policy (CCLP) into reports of use of force at Long Creek this summer has confirmed that youth were subjected to chokeholds and prone restraints, in violation of the youth prison’s policy.
The report outlines significant shortcomings including
chronic staff shortages,
unclear policies about de-escalation and the use of force, and
a deeply flawed response to disturbances at the youth prison — which permits the use of chemical agents like pepper spray and intervention by an outside tactical team. “These responses may or may not be appropriate in state prisons, but they are inappropriate, counterproductive, and dangerous in youth facilities,” the report authors write.
This is the third time CCLP has evaluated conditions at Long Creek, and its findings are consistent with the conclusions from its first report in 2017.
Four years ago, CCLP found Long Creek is not designed to meet or manage the serious mental health needs of young people confined there.
Long Creek continues to be dangerously understaffed, and policies about de-escalation and the use of force remain unclear. In its most recent investigation, CCLP found that Long Creek still permits the use of so-called “therapeutic” prone restraints – even though the child welfare organization said the use of prone restraints needs to stop in its 2017 report.
“Staff should not use the prone restraint, period, and MDOC policy should say so,” the CCLP investigators write in their most recent report.
Finally, Long Creek continues to be unable to meet youths’ mental health needs: there are not enough mental health clinicians, and staff cannot adequately create or implement Intensive Behavioral Management Plans.
Long Creek is incarcerating 25 young people at a cost of almost $20 million annually.
Earlier this year, formerly incarcerated young people, led by Maine Youth Justice, and their allies advocated for a bill to close Long Creek. The bill, LD 1668, passed in the House and the Senate, but was vetoed by Governor Mills.
“The latest report from the Center for Children’s Law and Policy regarding the ongoing issues at Long Creek only proves what we already know: Long Creek remains a hotbed of negligence, failures, and broken promises to youth,” said Leyla Hashi, Communications Coordinator, Maine Youth Justice. “Implementing only minor changes to an inherently broken prison system won’t change the fact that young people are reportedly ‘treated like animals’ by the staff charged with their care.
“Ultimately, Maine’s children and teenagers belong in their homes and neighborhoods, with the mental health and social support they need to be healthy and happy individuals. Being locked in a cell and away from one’s family is deeply traumatic for youth. They deserve care and understanding as developing young people with futures beyond their mistakes.
“Maine Youth Justice will continue to fight for a future where Long Creek is shut down and all of Maine’s children are free from the devastating impact of incarceration,” Hashi concluded.
“The findings released by CCLP aren’t surprising or new, but they are shameful. They add to the years of evidence about Long Creek’s failures and how it has harmed young people. Incarcerating young people is irredeemably violent, both for the young people who are confined and the adults who have to confine them. No amount of reform can fix something irredeemable. Long Creek needs to be closed,” said Michael Kebede, Policy Counsel, ACLU of Maine. “We urge the Governor and the Legislature to listen to youth advocates – many of them survivors of Long Creek – and to face the mountains of evidence about Long Creek’s failures. It is long past time for the Governor and the Legislature to shut down Maine’s last youth prison and invest in the community-based services that young people need to be healthy and thriving.”
“CCLP’s most recent report documents, once again, that Maine continues to warehouse many youth with mental health needs at Long Creek due to a lack of appropriate mental health services in the community. Maine continues to ask Long Creek to do what it is not capable of doing. This has to end. Incarceration is not treatment,” said Atlee Reilly, Legal Director, Disability Rights Maine.
“More institutions are not an appropriate response to a failed institution. Maine youth deserve individualized and robust community-based services to support them in their homes and communities,” said Mary L. Bonauto, Civil Rights Project Director, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD). “We’ve had years of news and consultant reports about Long Creek along with repeated, but unsuccessful efforts to reform it. It’s time to turn the page on Long Creek. The prison model simply doesn’t work for youth or our communities, and that’s why so many states have turned away from it. We can respond to inappropriate behavior in ways that both help young people become healthy and keep communities safe, as in other states and as outlined in past reports. Given the young people coming into the system with behaviors tied to genuine trauma and unmet mental health needs, our state should divert resources into needed care.”
Making Change Outside of the Courts: Advancing LGBTQ+, Racial, and Economic Justice
Rep. Jeff Currey, Lisa Rosenthall, Professor Doug NeJaime, advocates Stephanie and Denise, and GLAD Senior Staff Attorney Patience Crozier
GLAD has long relied on the whole mix of legal, policy, and advocacy tools to build a just society free from discrimination. To advance racial, economic, and LGBTQ+ justice and ensure the greatest possible impact for our communities, GLAD engages in the courts and at policy tables, in statehouses with legislators and advocates, and in community coalitions across New England and beyond.
In 2021 we worked in partnership with others to advance bills that will make a difference in the lives of LGBTQ+ families, adults, and youth. Some of these policies target harms individuals face because of poverty, racial inequities, anti-LGBTQ+ bias, or discriminatory laws, while others lay the groundwork for broader changes.
Nondiscrimination Laws: Fair Access toHousing and Public Spaces
GLAD advocated this year with partners to pass The Rhode Island Fair Housing Practices Act, signed into law in June.Access to housing is a basic necessity and critical to a person or family’s health, stability and wellbeing. Still, too often, discrimination gets in the way of attaining a safe place to live. The Act repeals LGBTQ-only exemptions in Rhode Island law that allowed discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression for smaller housing units, which make up a large percentage of housing stock in the state.
GLAD also worked in coalition to pass An Act Relating to Health and Safety – State Building Code, which requires single-use bathrooms in places of public accommodation to be labeled “restroom“ rather than restricted by gender. Not only does this protect transgender and nonbinary people from harm when using public restrooms, but it also improves accessibility for disabled Rhode Islanders and young children with differently gendered caretakers and helps everyone by reducing wait times.
Protecting Our Families: Expansion of Parentageand Adoption Laws
We Care Coalition members Stephanie and Denise, and their kids
As a complement to litigation, GLAD also seeks to pass updated, comprehensive laws to secure parent-child relationships regardless of whether the parents are married or how that child came into the world. These protectionsarecritical to children’s well-being and address the vulnerability families face from outdated laws and financial barriers in our existing system.GLAD’s work to update parentage and other family-related laws is both an LGBTQ+ equality and a priority for access to justice.
The passage this spring of the Connecticut Parentage Act(CPA) wasa victory years in the making. GLAD co-led the We Care Coalition with Yale Law School Professor Douglas NeJaime, working closely with bill sponsors Representative Jeff Currey and Senator Alex Kasserand other stakeholders on the bill’s text. Our coalition advocated by sharing the stories of impacted children and families in the Constitution state and organizing the effort to secure passage. Families and advocates celebrated what Professor NeJaimecalled“the most comprehensive parentage bill to pass to date,“ at a signing ceremony in Hartford on the first day of Pride Month. The CPA, which goes into effect January 1, 2022, fills gaps in Connecticut law that left children of LGBTQ, unmarried, or de facto parents vulnerable.
GLAD and our partners also successfully advocated for a critical update to the Maine Parentage Act of 2015 to expand access to the Voluntary Acknowledgement of Parentage for LGBTQ parents and others. This acknowledgment form provides a clear, fair, and simple way for parents to establish their legal connection to the child as soon as they are born and protects the family’s integrity and security. Governor Mills signed LD 222, An Act to Update the Maine Parentage Act, in June.
Massachusetts parent and MPA Coalition member J. and her child
With these two successful bills and updates in Vermont, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire over the past few years, nearly every state in New England has updated laws recognizing the diversity of how the LGBTQ community forms our families. We are working hard right now to pass the Massachusetts Parentage Act this year.In partnership with Resolve New England, we are leading a coalition of over 50 partner organizations and families to pass An Act Relative to Parentage to Promote Children’s Security (S 1133/H 1714). Learn more, share your family’s story, and get involved at www.massparentage.com.
Other important pending legislation to support families includes An Act To Promote Efficiency in Co-Parent Adoption (S 1124/H 1712) which would ensure a more streamlined process for
Massachusetts co-parent adoptions by LGBTQ couples who petition to adopt their own children, and An Act to Provide Access to Fertility Care (LD 1539), which would make forming families in Maine more attainable for LGBTQ+ couples, and all couples experiencing infertility, by increasing comprehensive medical insurance coverage for fertility diagnostic issues and treatment.
Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth: Schools, Child Welfare, and Juvenile Justice Systems
In June,justice-involved youth in Maine gained the right to counsel and petition foralternatives to incarceration when Governor Mills signed into law LD 320, An Act to Provide the Right to Counsel for Juveniles and Improve Due Process for Juveniles into law. GLAD worked with bill sponsor Rep. Victoria Morales, whose district includes the Long Creek juvenile facility, and advocacy partners on this 3-year effort to make necessaryreforms to the juvenile justice system. The bill:
Sets a minimum age of twelve for commitment to a juvenile correctional facility and provides that younger children may be detained no more than seven days unless the parties agree
Ends the mandatory one-year minimum commitment to juvenile correctional facilities
Requires judges to consider both the age of a young person and whether the offense committed would be regarded as a misdemeanor if committed by an adult when deciding whether incarceration is appropriate
Creates opportunities for judicial reviews of commitments; andappoints lawyers for both committed and detained young people
Keeping young people with supportive families, connected to resources, and out of correctional facilities is crucial to their opportunities for accountability and development for healthy adulthood.GLAD also supported a Maine Youth Justice–led bill to begin a process to close Long Creek, Maine’s one remaining juvenile prison. While that bill did not become law this session, weapplaudMYJ’s leadership on the issue. GLAD will continue to work in partnership with themand others on structural changes to our juvenile justice systems, including efforts to close Long Creek.
Also becoming law this June was An Act Regarding School Discipline for Maine’s Youngest Children, which essentiallyprohibits suspensions and expulsions for children in grade 5 or lower and bars the withholding of recess except for restorative justice interventions. Under the leadership of Rep. Victoria Morales and with the collaboration of Disability Rights Maine, the Maine Children’s Alliance, GLAD, and others, this revision of punitive disciplinary measures can keep children engaged in school and prevent issues of the school-to-prison pipeline, outcomes which disproportionately impact students of color and students with disabilities, including those who are LGBTQ+.
GLAD and partner organization OUT Maine collaborated with the Maine Department of Education on its first-ever LGBTQI+ website for the Department, launched in August. The site includes resources on student action groups, student rights, medical and mental health information, and much more, supporting and sustaining inclusive learning environments and contributing to student success at school and over a lifetime.
GLAD is co-leading a Racial and Equity Committee of the Maine Law Court’s Justice for Children Task Force to develop accurate information and support sound policy and interventions. With funding and leadership from the Maine Judicial Branch,the Task Force has commenced a multi-agency demographic data study about what data is collected in the Judicial Branch and the child welfare, education, public safety, and corrections systems, with a final report completed by November 2022.
In Massachusetts, GLAD supports Citizens for Juvenile Justice in their efforts to pass An Act Improving Juvenile Justice Data Collection (S 1558/H 1795). This billrequirescollecting critical demographic data at all stages of the juvenile justice system, including age, race, ethnicity, primary language, gender identity, and sexual orientation. S 1558/H 1795alsorequires an annual report overseen by the Child Advocate to ensure that the state uses resources efficiently to protect public safety and improve outcomes for youth.
Togetherwith other LGBTQ+ and youth advocacy organizations, GLAD is also advancing structural reforms in our child welfare systems and seeking to improve conditions for youth affected by these systems.
Respect for Our Humanity: Criminal Justice Reform and Reducing Prison Brutality
Transgender people face particular levels of brutality and harassment when incarcerated. GLAD has worked to address these harms through litigation and policy in prison systems across New England and the country. This year, GLAD worked with Maine Trans Net, legislative leaders, and corrections and law enforcement to craft a bill to improve health and safety conditions for transgender people when incarcerated in jails and prisons. LD 1044, which became law this summer, explicitly requires Maine DOC to respect and acknowledge an incarcerated person’s consistently held gender identity for placement irrespective of anatomy or physique, except for significant management, security, or safety reasons. The new law also requires Maine DOC to provide the programming and commissary items consistent with a person’s gender identity.
GLAD also supported and commends our partners in successfully passing bills to decriminalize homelessness and ban face recognition surveillance in Maine (similar legislation, S 47/H 135, is pending in Massachusetts). We are supporting partners in Massachusetts seeking to ensure cost-free phone calls for incarcerated people (Mass. S 1559), stop police profiling of transgender and low-income women by removing “common nightwalkers” and “common streetwalkers” from MA law (S 992/H 1800), move toward full decriminalization of sex work (H 1867) and pass comprehensive health and safety reforms for incarcerated LGBTQI people (S 1566/H 2484). GLAD also supported a bill in Maine, now law, to provide a defense to prostitution for reasons of economic hardship, preventing injury, or threats.
Living Life: Ensuring Access to Accurate Identification
All of us need accurate ID, and for transgender and non-binary people, it is essential for their safety and security.GLAD continues to work across New England to ensure everyone can access ID that reflects who they are, without barriers.
In August, we supported Rho, a non-binary Granite Stater, in successfully advocating for the New Hampshire DMV to remove barriers in choosing an “X” gender marker on their state-issued driver’s license or ID. Now people do not have to get a medical provider to attest to their non-binary gender identity, which can be a significant barrier to updating their ID. This policy change also applies to anyone changing their gender marker to X, M, or F and means that New Hampshire joins the rest of New England, as well as other states and municipalities, in having a straightforward process for people to have accurate state ID that affirms who they are.
In Maine this session, GLAD consulted on the substance of and supported LD 209 – An Act Concerning Name Changes for Minors, which clarifies and streamlines the process by which a parent or guardian can request a name change for a minor child by filing a petition in Probate court. The law drops the requirement to publish notice of the name change, allowing for confidentiality. It sets forth factors for judicial consideration, including the minor’s expressed preference and the child’s best interest. We also worked with community partners to pass LD 855 – An Act Regarding the Issuance of a Birth Certificate Following a Gender Marker Change, to ensure that new birth certificates issued following a name or gender marker change are not marked as amended, a crucial consideration to protect privacy and safety for transgender individuals.
In Massachusetts, we are working with coalition partners to advocate for An Act Relative to Gender Identity on Massachusetts Identification (S 2282/H 3521) and An Act Providing for a Gender-Neutral Designation on State Documents and Identifications (H 3126), bills that would codify a gender-neutral (“X”) designation for all Massachusetts forms and identification documents, including birth certificates.
Racial Impact Statements
A landmark achievement in the Maine 2021 legislative session with the potential to impact the lawmaking process and across systems is the enactment of LD 2,An Act to Require the Inclusion of Racial Impact Statements in the Legislative Process. Conceived and sponsored by Assistant House Majority Leader Rachel Talbot Ross, the law provides that any legislation considered in Maine may be evaluated for its racial impact at the request of any legislator or committee. GLAD provided LGBTQ-community testimony in support of LD 2. With the guidance of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and other leaders and communities of color, looks forward to supporting the use of this important and innovative tool.
LGBTQ+ youth and particularly Black, Brown, and Indigenous (BIPOC) youth are over-represented in child welfare systems, and young people impacted by these systems face increased risks of joblessness, homelessness, and interaction with the criminal legal system.
Poverty, structural racism, and anti-LGBTQ bias all play roles in determining which children and families are impacted and separated by the State. GLAD is working both to ensure our child welfare systems can meet the needs of BIPOC LGBTQ+ youth in their care and to move State approaches away from family separation and toward family supports.
In Maine this session, GLAD supported a bill to require the Department of Health and Human Services to provide families in need with assistance to meet basic necessitiesto prevent children from being removed from homes. This proposal recognizes that what is frequently labeled as “neglect” and therefore cause for family separation is simply poverty and requires the State to address that underlying cause before removing a child. While LD 396, unfortunately, did not pass this session, we’re continuing to push for such changes so that resources are focused on supporting children and families rather than separating them.
In Massachusetts,child welfare advocates, including GLAD, have been calling for change at the MA Department of Children and Families (DCF) for years in response to high-profilecatastrophic incidentsanddaily failings of the youth in DCF custody.
In August, with the contributions and engagement of GLAD, the Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ+ Youth released a report on the treatment and outcomes of DCF-involved children that draws a plain conclusion: LGBTQ+ youth in DCF custody are in crisis. Along with alarming findings,the report offers clear insight into improving the lives of youth already in the system, providing more support for families of origin and foster families, and training staff and other professionals on the specific and timely needs of LGBTQ+ youth.
“Life in residential care got even harder after I started identifying as a transgender woman while placed in an all-boys program. The staff misgendered me most of the time. DCF denied me [gender-affirming care]… Their rationale was that they couldn’t“risk it.”In reality, they were risking my life by not giving me the healthcare I needed.”–Youth with a history of DCF involvement
As the Commission Chair says in the introduction to the report, “the status quo for LGBTQ youth in DCF is an emergency.”LGBTQ+ youth experience the repercussions of thelack of a clear, comprehensive agency policy affirming their identities, an insufficient supply of supportive placements, inadequate training for staff and foster families, and long delays and even denials of access to necessary healthcare. These shortcomings far too often lead to poor health and educational outcomes, violence, harassment, bullying, self-harm, and other devastating impacts. And these impacts often fall most harshly on Black and Brown LGBTQ youth and transgender youth, who face multiple biases and structural barriers.
“As a foster parent to transgender young people, I have not seen that DCF is able to engage in family support work around LGBTQ issues. They are always emphasizing what the parents have not done, rather than how to help them. I don’t know how DCF thinks they are ever going to reunify families if they don’t have empathy or compassion and if they aren’t willing to educate and support the parent. Without that, their job becomes to break families apart.”–Foster Parent
GLAD and our LGBTQ+ Child Welfare Alliance partners are calling on policymakers and legislators to act immediately to improve the child welfare system with the following measures:
Collection and reporting of comprehensive, intersectional data that allows DCF and other responsible entities to track outcomes for LGBTQ+ youth and to understand and meet their needs better. The legislature should pass An Act Relative to Accountability for Vulnerable Children and Families (H.239/S.32) with a requirement that DCF consistently collects and report intersectional sexual orientation and gender identity data.
Development and implementation of a comprehensive LGBTQ+ policy and training for all adults who come into contact with LGBTQ+ youth, including staff, foster families, and providers. Neighboring states such as Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, and sister state agencies like DYS have such policies.
The legislature should pass H.211/S.88 to create an independent Foster Care Review Office to improve accountability, transparency, and oversight for the foster care review process, to strengthen protections for youth in DCF care and custody.
Increase and tracking of affirming placements for LGBTQ+ youth in both foster homes and group settings.
Improved, more timely access to gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth.
Creation of a statutory foster child bill of rights with explicit protections for LGBTQ+ youth, including access to gender-affirming medical care.
“Ultimately, it took nearly two years to get my child the care she needed. Bias and transphobia from multiple professionals involved in the child welfare system hindered the process. Foster parents do not receive training on this. Can you imagine what happens to a child who ends up in a home where the foster parent does not already know all of this?” – Foster Parent
The findings of the Commission’s report are dire, but our advocacy is working. The momentum is building, and a new gender-affirming care policy goes into effect on September 30. Later in the fall, GLAD Senior Staff Attorney Patience Crozier is moderating a series of trainings in collaboration with Child Protection and Child Services on better serving transgender youth and other LGBTQ+ people. There is much to do, but we are working harder than ever to directly impact young people’s treatment and lives in state custody. To get involved, visit GLAD.org/mass-alliance.
UPDATE: Marie King and Sunrise Assisted Living have reached a landmark settlement in a case at the Maine Human Rights Commission. “I’m thrilled to see this positive outcome,” said Ms. King. Learn more.
We all deserve to be treated with dignity and respect as we age. But transgender older adults, like our client Marie King, experience high rates of discrimination and vulnerability in long-term care facilities.
On October 21, 2021, GLAD filed a discrimination claim with the Maine Human Rights Commission on behalf of Marie King, a 78-year-old woman who was denied a room by Sunrise Assisted Living in Jonesport, Maine because she is transgender. It is the first known discrimination complaint filed in the U.S. by a transgender older adult against a long-term care facility. Read the filing.
In the spring of 2021, the complainant Marie King was admitted to Pen Bay Medical Center for an acute medical emergency. Once Ms. King’s health was stabilized, the medical staff determined she did not require in-patient care and needed placement in an assisted living facility. A hospital social worker contacted Sunrise Assisted Living on Ms. King’s behalf and was told they had rooms available. Upon learning that Ms. King is transgender, however, the Administrator at Sunrise informed the hospital they would not admit Ms. King because they were concerned she wanted to reside in a room with a female roommate, despite the fact that Sunrise regularly places women in semi-private rooms with other women.
The claim brought by GLAD on Marie King’s behalf asserts that Sunrise discriminated against Ms. King based on her gender identity, transgender status, and her sex, all explicitly protected under the Maine Human Rights Act.
Update: On March 14, 2022, the Maine Human Rights Commission by a 3-2 vote found evidence that Sunrise Assisted Living violated state nondiscrimination protections when it denied Marie a room because she is a transgender woman. The milestone finding in Marie’s case is a huge step toward ensuring anyone who needs access to a long-term care facility is welcomed with courtesy and respect.
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