GLAD works alongside many great organizations that strive to support and uplift the LGBTQ+ community. Below you will find links to several organizations that work with transgender folks and their loved ones in Maine in a variety of areas. For further resources and referrals, please reach out to GLAD Answers by filling out our intake form. You can also email us at GLADAnswers@glad.org or leave a voicemail at 800-455-GLAD.
I, John/Jane Inmate, was harassed/threatened/physically attacked because of my sexual orientation by [name(s) of person(s) involved] on [date(s) that the act(s) took place].
When you write a grievance, be sure to include as much information as you can remember. Include in your complaint:
If you reported harassment to any prison official(s) previously, indicate who you told, when, and what they did or did not do about it.
With politicians around the country denying essential medical care to transgender people, it is critical that Maine take steps to protect access to health care and the providers who deliver that care. We thank Rep. Osher for starting this process even though LD 1735 is not moving ahead. We know that Maine people, state leaders and many legislators understand the importance of passing the right bill as quickly as possible. We look forward to working with the legislature to move forward on a bill to support transgender people and their families, protect health care providers from hostile out-of-state laws, and ensure continued access to care for all in Maine.
Respostas GLADA linha de informações jurídicas da GLAD está movimentada. Neste ano, até agora, tivemos uma média mensal de 169 atendimentos, acima dos 130 por mês em 2022. A equipe do GLAD Answers pode responder a perguntas e dar suporte a um grande número de pessoas que ligam com a ajuda de 20 voluntários do GLAD Answers.
Janeiro
Fevereiro
Marchar
abril
Poderia
Junho
Julho
Agosto
Setembro
De janeiro a setembro, os chamadores precisaram de suporte nas seguintes áreas:
| Áreas de atuação | Número de admissões |
| Projeto ID | 271 |
| Tratamento na Prisão | 193 |
| Violência/Assédio | 122 |
| Assistência Médica/Acesso | 86 |
| Emprego | 67 |
| Habitação | 57 |
| Imigração/Asilo | 53 |
A equipe, composta pela coordenadora do GLAD Answers, Kayden Hall, e pela gerente de informações públicas, Gabrielle Hamel, realiza um treinamento para voluntários a cada seis meses. Realizamos nosso último treinamento em setembro, com seis novos voluntários se juntando a quatorze voluntários dedicados que permaneceram conosco desde o ano anterior. Essas pessoas dedicadas, que doam seu tempo, respondem a e-mails, telefonemas e consultas online, além de fornecer recursos e informações a quem precisa.
Nosso próximo treinamento de voluntários ocorrerá na primavera. Você pode se inscrever agora!
Com tantos voluntários maravilhosos, estamos trabalhando para expandir nosso alcance e garantir que todos que o GLAD Answers pode ajudar conheçam este recurso gratuito, especialmente comunidades de baixa renda e negras e pardas, bem como regiões fora da Grande Boston. Convidamos você a compartilhar informações sobre Respostas GLAD com aqueles em sua comunidade que podem ter dúvidas sobre seus direitos legais ou precisam de informações sobre como lidar com a discriminação contra LGBTQ+.
Esta história foi publicada originalmente no boletim informativo GLAD Briefs do outono de 2023, Ler mais.
The vast majority of book bans that are taking hold across the country specifically aim to remove books that are by and about LGBTQ people, communities of color, and other marginalized groups. Students have the right to equal educational opportunity and a First Amendment right to speak and receive information freely.
Massachusetts
On January 23, 2023, GLAD and the ACLU of Massachusetts sent a letter urging Massachusetts public school districts to protect students’ legal rights by rejecting censorship in school libraries. Leia a carta.
Maine
On May 16, 2023, GLAD and the ACLU of Maine sent a letter to Maine’s public school leaders demanding they uphold their own legal obligations and students’ First Amendment rights by stopping efforts to ban and censor books. Leia a carta.
Nova Hampshire
On December 4, 2023, GLAD and the ACLU of New Hampshire sent a letter to Frank Edelblut, the commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Education (DOE), warning about First Amendment concerns regarding the DOE’s insinuation that the Dover School District should consider banning two books as “developmentally inappropriate.” In a separate open letter to the superintendents of New Hampshire’s school districts, GLAD and the ACLU of New Hampshire urged them to take a stand against censorship and protect student access to an equal and safe environment by resisting calls to remove books from school libraries. Read the letters.
O Projeto de Identificação Transgênero é um recurso gratuito para pessoas transgênero que vivem na Nova Inglaterra e que desejam atualizar seu nome legal e marcador de gênero em documentos estaduais e federais.
If you need assistance updating your legal name and gender on federal and state documents, visit the Maine page for the Transgender ID Project.
A new law signed by Governor Mills today will allow transgender minors who have reached a minimum age of 16, have a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, and are being harmed or will be from being denied medically necessary health care, to have a medical pathway to receive such care. LD 535 authorizes 16- and 17-year-olds in those circumstances and who meet detailed requirements of counseling and informed consent to receive evidence-based, medically recommended non-surgical care if they are deemed competent to give such consent and their parents refuse to provide the required care.
Broad medical consensus recognizes that puberty-blocking medication and/or cross-hormone therapy is the standard of care for minors in appropriate circumstances. Evidence shows that minors who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria have better life outcomes and more successful treatment when they receive timely care and are able to go through puberty congruent with their gender identity.
While many transgender minors receive care with the support and involvement of their parents, LD 535 ensures minors capable of informed consent and who have had detailed counseling with a physician and some other health care providers are not denied necessary and timely care.
“Getting real information about transgender people, and the process of acceptance and understanding, can be challenging and complex for families of transgender youth. Pediatricians strive to create a safe environment for parents to better understand and listen to the needs of their children while receiving support, and for adolescents to understand their parents’ concerns as well – but unfortunately parental acceptance isn’t always attained by adolescence,” said Joe Anderson, DO, Advocacy Chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Maine Chapter. “Gender dysphoria is a well-recognized medical diagnosis with an established and effective treatment and delaying access to care can have harmful consequences. LD 535 will help ensure that mature transgender minors receive the care they need when they need it, which will lead to better long-term outcomes.”
LD 535 was introduced by Representative Sheehan and cosponsored by Senator Tipping and Representatives Malon, Moonen, Osher, and Rana. It creates a pathway for a limited set of 16 and 17-year-olds with diagnosed gender dysphoria and who are experiencing harm to access care in line with existing avenues under Maine law regarding other kinds of medical treatment such as mental health care and substance use treatment.
“LD 535 will protect the lives of young transgender people who will certainly be harmed by a delay in receiving the medical care recommended by their providers,” said Representative Sheehan. “Parents of trans youth may withhold consent for care for a variety of reasons, including out of a desire to protect their children from possible adverse consequences, yet medical research makes clear that for some youth there are grave risks associated with delaying or denying gender-affirming care. This law assures that transgender young people can be spared harmful long-term consequences of delayed care while allowing the family the opportunity to continue the work of developing mutual understanding and support.”
The legislation received wide support from parents, youth, medical providers, and youth advocates who testified at House and Senate hearings. It passed by significant margins in the House and in the Senate.
“Despite broad medical consensus and well-established standards of care, transgender healthcare remains highly stigmatized, and as a result youth don‘t always get the care they need,” said Quinn Gormley, Executive Director, Maine TransNet. “It is completely understandable that parents may have fears and questions about what their transgender kids are going through, but the fact is that choosing not to act is not neutral – delaying access to care can have serious consequences for transgender young people. LD 535 will ensure that mature minors who have worked through an extensive evaluation with their healthcare team and whose providers recommend that they begin hormones are not denied medically necessary care simply because the care they need is misunderstood and stigmatized.”
LD 535 requires that a minor seeking care be at least 16-years-old and that a health care professional establishes that they meet the following thresholds: the minor has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria; the minor is experiencing or will experience harm if the care is not provided; and the minor is mentally and physically capable to consent and has provided informed written consent.
“A strong relationship with parents is a protective factor for young people, and parents have an important role in loving, supporting and guiding decisions for their children, including healthcare decisions consistent with medical standards of care. But young people who are 16 or 17 and capable of informed consent as determined by a doctor and some other health care professionals and who need care should not suffer needlessly because other people, even the parents they love, do not understand their condition or support their care,” said Mary Bonauto, Senior Director of Civil Rights and Legal Strategies at Advogados e defensores jurídicos GLBTQ. “Maine has been responsive to the needs of young people by enacting laws to allow them to get needed care, particularly for stigmatized conditions. In that tradition, LD 535 provides specific guidelines to allow transgender young people to access necessary care that will allow them to thrive, while limiting disruption to family relationships.”
“Young people should have access to the health care they need,” said Meagan Sway, Policy Director, ACLU do Maine. “While state law recognizes that health care decisions for minors typically involve the consent of a parent or guardian, it also allows that some forms of life-saving care are so important that minors should be able to receive it, even in the absence of parental support. LD 535 will ensure older transgender teenagers who are 16 and 17 years old can access this life-saving standard of care.”
Em geral, segundo a legislação federal e estadual do Maine, quase todos os planos de saúde não podem discriminar com base no sexo e, devido à decisão da Suprema Corte em Bostock v. Clayton Co. concluiu que toda discriminação de identidade de gênero e orientação sexual é uma forma de discriminação sexual; quase todos os planos de saúde não podem discriminar pessoas LGBTQ+.
Código de Seguros do Maine
Em 2019, o Código de Seguros do Maine foi alterado para incluir a proibição de discriminação por parte de quaisquer planos de saúde regulamentados pelo Departamento de Seguros do Maine. O Código fornece uma lista de exemplos de discriminação proibida, incluindo, entre outros:
Estas são essencialmente paralelas às proteções federais da Seção 1557 da Lei de Assistência Médica Acessível (ACA). Para mais informações, consulte: Título 24-A, §4320-L: Não discriminação.
Medicaid do Maine (MaineCare)
Também em 2019, o MaineCare, programa Medicaid do Maine, começou a oferecer cobertura para tratamentos clinicamente necessários para disforia de gênero, removendo uma exclusão obsoleta e discriminatória para cuidados relacionados à transição e adicionando padrões vitais de cuidado que refletem as práticas médicas atuais, reconhecendo as necessidades de saúde de indivíduos transgênero. Essas mudanças alinham a política do MaineCare com a comunidade médica profissional e a colocam em conformidade com as leis estaduais e federais, incluindo a Seção 1557 da Lei de Assistência Médica Acessível.
Sim. O Medicare e os planos de saúde do empregador que são autofinanciados (também conhecidos como auto-assegurados) são regidos pela lei federal.
Medicare
Em 2013, o Medicare removeu a proibição de cobertura para tratamento de disforia de gênero porque era "experimental" e começou a cobrir tratamento clinicamente necessário para disforia de gênero.
Seção 1557 da Lei de Assistência Médica Acessível (ACA)
A Seção 1557 torna ilegal que qualquer prestador de serviços de saúde que receba financiamento do governo federal se recuse a tratar um indivíduo – ou discrimine-o de qualquer outra forma – com base em sexo (bem como raça, cor, nacionalidade, idade ou deficiência). A Seção 1557 impõe requisitos semelhantes às operadoras de planos de saúde que recebem assistência financeira federal. Prestadores de serviços de saúde e seguradoras estão proibidos, entre outras coisas, de excluir ou tratar negativamente um indivíduo com base em qualquer uma dessas bases proibidas. A regra final da Seção 1557 se aplica aos beneficiários de assistência financeira do Departamento de Saúde e Serviços Humanos (HHS), dos Mercados de Seguros de Saúde e dos programas de saúde administrados pelo HHS.
A Seção 1557 geralmente não se aplica a planos de saúde coletivos autofinanciados sob ERISA ou planos de duração limitada de curto prazo porque as entidades que oferecem os planos normalmente não estão envolvidas principalmente no negócio de fornecer assistência médica, nem recebem assistência financeira federal.
Em maio de 2021, o governo Biden anunciou que o Escritório de Direitos Civis de Saúde e Serviços Humanos (OCR) interpretaria e aplicaria a Seção 1557 da ACA e os requisitos de não discriminação com base no sexo do Título IX, incluindo orientação sexual e identidade de gênero. A atualização foi feita à luz da decisão da Suprema Corte dos EUA de junho de 2020 no caso Bostock v. Clayton County e decisões judiciais subsequentes.
Ao aplicar a Seção 1557, o OCR cumprirá a Lei de Restauração da Liberdade Religiosa, 42 USC § 2000bb e seq.., e todos os outros requisitos legais e ordens judiciais aplicáveis que foram emitidos em litígios envolvendo os regulamentos da Seção 1557.
Título VII
Para empregadores com 15 ou mais funcionários, o Título VII proíbe a discriminação com base em raça, cor, religião, sexo e nacionalidade na contratação, demissão, remuneração e outros termos, condições ou privilégios de emprego. Os termos e condições de emprego incluem benefícios de saúde patrocinados pelo empregador. Historicamente, nem todas as autoridades concordam que o Título VII protege os trabalhadores LGBTQ+ contra a discriminação.
No entanto, a decisão do Supremo Tribunal Bostock v. Clayton Co. altera isso porque a decisão deixou claro que a discriminação por orientação sexual e identidade de gênero são formas de discriminação sexual. Embora a decisão trate de rescisão injusta de contrato de trabalho, ela tem implicações para os planos de saúde e outros benefícios patrocinados pelo empregador. Por exemplo, os empregadores podem querer ajustar a cobertura do plano de saúde coletivo para disforia de gênero e serviços relacionados, incluindo cirurgias de afirmação de gênero, e revisar e comparar os benefícios para cônjuges do mesmo sexo e de sexos opostos.
Em 8 de julho de 2020, em Escola Nossa Senhora de Guadalupe v. Morrissey-Berru, a Suprema Corte dos Estados Unidos reafirmou sua posição sobre a aplicação da exceção ministerial a casos de discriminação no emprego, conforme estabelecido em decisões anteriores. Ao fazê-lo, a Corte levantou simultaneamente uma questão sem resposta sob o Título VII: a exceção ministerial para empregadores religiosos permite que essas organizações discriminem funcionários ou candidatos com base em sua condição LGBTQ+?
Não está claro neste momento como a decisão do Tribunal em Escola Nossa Senhora de Guadalupe v. Morrissey-Berru pode impactar os funcionários LGBTQ+ de empregadores religiosos, mas organizações religiosas e empregadores devem reconhecer que a exceção ministerial não se aplica a todos os cargos dentro de suas organizações. Em vez disso, ela se limita aos funcionários que realmente desempenham funções religiosas. Por exemplo, o cargo de zelador escolar, que está presente no prédio apenas fora do horário escolar e não é responsável por transmitir a fé, provavelmente não seria considerado de natureza ministerial.
Cada vez mais cirurgiões que realizam cirurgias de afirmação de gênero utilizam planos de saúde. Você deve pesquisar cuidadosamente os cirurgiões para encontrar um que seja adequado para você. Você pode consultar a lista de profissionais credenciados pelo seu plano para verificar se eles estão incluídos ou se inclui algum cirurgião na sua região. Caso contrário, entre em contato com o consultório do cirurgião para verificar se ele aceita o seu plano. A maioria dos planos de saúde exige que você utilize um profissional médico da sua rede, mas se a sua rede não incluir um cirurgião que realize os serviços que você precisa, você poderá sair da rede se solicitar autorização prévia do seu plano.
Se você estiver sofrendo discriminação por parte de uma unidade ou prestador de serviços de saúde, você pode registrar uma queixa de discriminação junto à Comissão de Direitos Humanos do Maine. Consulte a Área de Assuntos "Discriminação" para obter informações detalhadas sobre como fazer isso.
Se você tem um plano de saúde regulamentado pelo Maine Bureau of Insurance, você pode registrar uma reclamação junto a essa agência: Registrar uma reclamação/disputa | Seguro PFR.
Se você possui um plano de saúde regido pela Seção 1557 da ACA, pode registrar uma reclamação junto ao Escritório de Direitos Civis do Departamento de Saúde e Serviços Humanos do governo federal. Para mais informações, consulte: Como registrar uma queixa de direitos civis.
Se você possui um plano de saúde autofinanciado por meio de um empregador com pelo menos 15 funcionários, pode registrar uma queixa de discriminação junto à Comissão Federal para a Igualdade de Oportunidades de Emprego (EEOC). Para mais informações, consulte a Área Temática "Discriminação".
When you first arrive at a new facility, an officer should conduct an “intake” with you. This is the best time for you to share if you are transgender or intersex. You can also tell the intake officer if you have a history of being “perceived”, or others seeing you as, transgender or intersex, or if you have recently had gender-affirming procedures or any similar care. If you have already had gender-affirming surgery, then you should tell your intake officer immediately. Maine’s policy is that people who have had gender-affirming procedures should be housed in accordance with their gender identity.
Once you tell the intake officer, they are responsible for contacting a person with the role of Chief Administrative Officer or someone who works for them. That intake officer should tell the Chief Administrative Officer if you are transgender or intersex. It is also possible that a defense attorney or prosecutor, a guardian, a department or jail staff member, or another officer of the court has already said that you are transgender or intersex. If someone else has told the facility, then the intake officer is still responsible for telling the Chief Administrative Officer even if you haven’t.
If the Chief Administrative Officer receives information from someone about your case before your first intake, then they might make a decision about your initial strip search and housing placement before you arrive.
If your initial strip search has not been done before your intake, then the Chief Administrative Officer should consider different factors, including your personal preference, about the gender of the officer who will conduct it. That Chief Administrative Officer will document the reasons for choosing a particular officer in your Corrections Information System (CORIS).
The Chief Administrative Officer or someone who works for them will also decide where the best place for your immediate housing is. They will make that decision based on different factors including your risk to safety. They should document all the reasons for their decision in your CORIS file. Your housing assignment might change after they conduct a more in-depth review. In the meantime, your strip searches will be conducted by staff members of the same gender as other people who are in the unit you are assigned to. If the Chief Administrative Officer wants to assign a different person to search you, they will put this in your CORIS file.
You should be given an opportunity to use the bathroom and shower privately until a full assessment takes place.
If you are already on hormonal medications when you enter the facility, you should be able to continue using them. You can continue to use them at least until you have an appointment with the facility’s physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner. Your facility has to follow a policy about this called the Adult Facility Policy 18.7: Pharmaceuticals.
The Chief Administrative Officer should notify the facility’s Health Services Administrator as soon as they can about your case. The Health Services Administrator should prioritize your case so that they can make a determination about whether or not you have received a diagnosis of “gender dysphoria”, have received hormonal treatment, have received transgender or intersex-related medical procedures, or any other relevant medical assistance.
In order to do that, the facility will probably ask you for a release of information to get your healthcare documents. If you want to say yes, they will be able to look through those documents and hopefully more quickly decide how to move forward with your case. The Chief Administrative Officer will then decide if you need an evaluation for “gender dysphoria” or an expedited medical health assessment. They may also look for information from Adult Community Corrections to request information about how long they have known you were transgender or intersex.
If there is a safety issue relating to being transgender or intersex, you should let officers at the facility know right away. This could include risks to safety of yourself or of another person. It also includes anything that would require a change from your immediate housing placement that was made by the Chief Administrative Officer when you entered. The facility staff should follow department policy that sets out what to do in a situation like this. That policy is called the Adult Facility Policy 15.1: Administrative Segregation Status.
Maine uses a definition for “Gender Dysphoria” from a book, written by doctors at the American Psychiatric Association, called the Diagnostic and Statistics Manual of Mental Disorders [Fifth Edition], or the “DSM-5”. The definition is:
A difference between a person’s experienced and expressed gender and their assigned gender that has taken place for at least six months. It must include two of the following:
Within 30 days of your report, the Chief Administrative Officer should put together a team to handle your case. People on that team should include your Unit Manager at your facility, the Health Services Administrator, the Department’s Medical Director, the Department’s Mental Health Director, a member of the facility’s security staff, a member of the facility’s classification staff, and the facility Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) monitor. There may be one or more other people on the team as well if the Chief Administrative Office thinks they should be. For example, they may contact the Chief Administrative Officer or Department’s Director of Classification at the facility where you could be transferred to.
The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) is a federal law passed in 2003. Under PREA, rather than automatically assigning people to a facility, transgender and intersex people are assessed for potential safety threats and housed “on a case-by-case basis” according to gender identity. Correctional staff have to consider housing and program assignments at least twice a year to review any threats to safety experienced by transgender and intersex people living in prison.
According to the law, they also have to take into account your own view of your safety. They are not allowed to separate you for housing or other program placements based solely on your LGBT+ status.
PREA also protects “involuntary segregation”, or the removal of a person to a different housing assignment against their will. You cannot continue to be kept in a different part of the prison against your will unless prison officials have determined that there is no other way to keep you safe. They have to make that determination within the first 24 hours if they do place you in separate housing against your will. People cannot be segregated against their will for more than thirty days, and they must be given access to all of the same work, educational, and programming opportunities as any other person.
The team will make the following recommendations about your case:
The team should make these recommendations based on information available about your case. That includes things like whether or not you have a diagnosis for “gender dysphoria”, as well as any other relevant medical tests. If you haven’t had an assessment for “gender dysphoria” yet, then the team will decide if you need one. They will also decide if they want to request any other medical assessments.
In making decisions about your recommendations, the team will consider things like:
The Chief Administrative Officer or someone who works for them should make the final decision about the full team’s recommendations for your current facility. They will make decisions about your health care plan and transfer to another facility in conjunction with other people.
That final decision on the recommendations should be used to create a case plan for you. That plan might include an evaluation for “gender dysphoria”, for example. If it does, then you should be brought for an assessment for “gender dysphoria” or any other relevant medical assessment. Within 15 days of that assessment, the Chief Administrative Officer should share the results with your team and finalize its recommendations.
Even after that, the Chief Administrative Officer can also bring your team together periodically or any time appropriate to make further recommendations about your care. Any time that your team meets, as well as all of your recommendations, should be documented in your CORIS file.
Your unit management team is responsible for reassessing your case and housing situation at least every six months, or more frequently if it is necessary. If you experience threats or a change in safety, you should let an officer at your facility know. Your care team should give specific attention to any threats to safety you report.
It can be more difficult to request transfer if you’ve been in a facility for a while, but there is a procedure to do so. The main differences with asking for a transfer after you have already been in a facility are that, until a full review has been completed, you will not be placed in a different housing unit with people of a different gender than where you have been living. You will also not be given the opportunity to shower or use the bathroom privately.
The first step is to let staff at your facility know that you are transgender or intersex. From there, they should contact the Chief Administrative Officer of the facility. The Chief Administrative Officer should reach out to the Health Services Administrator as soon as possible after they receive your report. The process from there looks similar to what would have happened if you had requested the transfer from the beginning.
The Health Services Administrator should prioritize your case so that they can make a determination about whether or not you have received a diagnosis of “gender dysphoria”, have received hormonal treatment, have received transgender or intersex-related medical procedures, or any other relevant medical assistance.
In order to do that, the facility will need you to sign a “Release of Information” to get your healthcare documents. If you want to say yes, they will be able to look through those documents and hopefully more quickly decide how to move forward with your case. The Chief Administrative Officer will then decide if you need an evaluation for “gender dysphoria” or an expedited medical health assessment.
The Chief Administrative Officer will also ask staff at your facility and staff from other departments about whether they knew you were transgender or intersex or had perceived you to be before you made your own disclosure. They may reach out to the adult community corrections as well.
There are options if you don’t think that the Chief Administrative Officer or the team made the right decision about your custody level or if they did not approve a transfer. You can “appeal” this decision through the Classification Appeal Process. You can ask an officer for a copy of the Prisoner Appeal of Classification Decision form. Here is a link to Procedure J of the Classification System, which also describes the process.
To make an appeal, you have to submit the Prisoner Appeal of Classification Decision form within five business days of receiving your decision—this does not count weekend days or holidays. You should submit this form to the Department’s Director of Classification for custody level or facility transfer decisions, specifically. You should submit this form to the facility Chief Administrative Officer for all other classification issues.
Appealing the decision itself will not stop it from taking place, so you will have to remain housed in your current facility during the appeals process. Whoever you submitted your appeal to, such as the Department’s Director of Classification or the facility Chief Administrative Officer, should give you a decision about your appeal within 30 days. They can choose to approve the decision, reverse the decision, modify the decision, or “remand” the decision to the Unit Management Team (UMT) for further consideration. “Remanding” the decision means that the UMT will take over and decide what to do.
It is important to remember that the Department’s Director of Classification is the final authority for appeals about custody level or facility transfer. For all other appeals, the facility Chief Administrative Officer is the final authority.
If you want to appeal a decision made about your case that has to do with something besides custody and transfer, you can use the regular “grievance process” at your facility by filing a grievance.
All appeals will be put into your CORIS file. You can also find more information about Maine State Prison policies in this Handbook.
The Maine Parentage Act (MPA) is a set of state laws that was passed in 2016 and strengthened in 2021. It clarified and expanded the ways someone can legally establish that they are the parents of a child. The MPA addresses who is able to, and how to, establish legal parentage. See: Title 19-A, §1851: Establishment of parentage.
Specifically, the MPA ensures greater protections and equal treatment for children of LGBTQ+ parents. The law allows many LGBTQ+ parents to establish parentage through a simple form, an Acknowledgement of Parentage (AOP), ensuring LGBTQ+ parents are able to establish their legal relationship to their child immediately at birth or any time before the child turns 18.
The MPA also extends an accessible path to parentage for children born through assisted reproduction and for children born through surrogacy.
“Paternidade” significa que você é o pai/mãe legal de uma criança para todos os efeitos. A paternidade/maternidade implica uma série de direitos (por exemplo, tomada de decisões sobre cuidados médicos ou educação, tempo de convivência em caso de separação do outro genitor do seu filho), bem como responsabilidades (por exemplo, fornecer plano de saúde, prover as necessidades básicas, pagar pensão alimentícia). Uma relação legal segura entre pais e filhos é fundamental para a estabilidade e o bem-estar a longo prazo de uma criança.
Estabelecer a filiação logo após o nascimento garante que a criança esteja segura com os pais para todos os fins e aumenta a clareza para todos os envolvidos na vida da criança. Por exemplo, a filiação estabelecida permitirá que os pais tomem decisões médicas precoces na vida da criança, garantirá que a criança receba benefícios de seguro ou direitos de herança e protegerá os direitos parentais dos pais em caso de separação.
The MPA provides that Mainers can establish their parentage in the following ways:
Also, the Court may accept an admission of parentage that is made under penalty of perjury, or the Court may assign parentage to a party in default as long as the party was properly served notice of the proceeding (see 19-A MRS §1841 e §1842).
An intended parent is a person who consents to assisted reproduction with the intent to be a parent of the child or is an intended parent under a gestational carrier agreement. Ideally, a person who consents to assisted reproduction with the intent to be a parent will memorialize that intent in writing, but the law does allow other ways to prove intent to be a parent.
A presumed parent is a non-birth parent that the law recognizes because of certain circumstances or relationships. A presumed parent is established as a legal parent through the execution of a valid Acknowledgement of Parentage, by an adjudication, or as otherwise provided in the MPA.
Você é um pai presumido se alguma das situações abaixo for verdadeira:
A de facto parent is a parent based on their relationship with the child. Establishing de facto parentage requires a judgment from a court. You can petition a court to establish your de facto parentage by demonstrating, with clear and convincing evidence that you have fully and completely undertaken a permanent, unequivocal, committed and responsible parental role in the child’s life. To make that finding a court must determine all of the following:
Federal law requires states to provide a simple civil process for acknowledging parentage upon the birth of a child. That simple civil process is the Acknowledgement of Parentage program.
Federal regulations require states to provide an Acknowledgement of Parentage program at hospitals and state birth record agencies. Acknowledgement of Parentage forms themselves are short affidavits in which the person signing affirms that they wish to be established as a legal parent with all of the rights and responsibilities of parentage. The person who gave birth to the child must also sign the form, and both parents have to provide some demographic information about themselves.
By signing an Acknowledgement of Parentage, a person is established as a legal parent, and the child’s birth certificate is issued or amended to reflect that legal parentage. Properly executed, an Acknowledgement of Parentage has the binding force of a court order and should be treated as valid in all states.
You can voluntarily acknowledge the parentage of a child by signing a form from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services known as an Acknowledgement of Parentage (AOP). An Acknowledgement of Parentage must be signed by the birth parent and the other parent (i.e., the person establishing parentage through the Acknowledgement of Parentage). The other parent can be the genetic parent (except for sperm or egg donors), an intended parent of a child born through assisted reproduction or a gestational carrier agreement, or a presumed parent (see definition of presumed parent above).
Signing an Acknowledgement of Parentage form is voluntary, and it can be done at the hospital soon after birth or until the child turns 18 by contacting the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. Here is a sample of the form, VS-27-A: Acknowledgement OF PARENTAGE (AOP).
An Acknowledgement of Parentage form must be notarized. To be valid, the people signing the form must be given oral and written notice explaining the legal consequences, rights, and responsibilities that arise from signing an Acknowledgement of Parentage. If either the birth parent or the non-birth parent does not want to sign this form to establish parentage for the non-birth parent, then either of them can try to have a court determine parentage.
If you have any questions about whether to sign an Acknowledgement of Parentage form, you should consult with a lawyer before signing. An Acknowledgement of Parentage is the equivalent of a court judgment of parentage, and parentage is a considerable, life-long responsibility.
Acknowledgements of Parentage can be signed after the birth of a child, up until the child’s 18th birthday. An Acknowledgement of Parentage can also be completed before the child’s birth but will not take effect until the child is born.
If you aren’t married, and you signed an Acknowledgement Parentage, you have sixty days to go to court and rescind, or take back, that acknowledgement. If it has been more than 60 days since you filed the acknowledgement, but less than two years, you can still go to court to challenge the acknowledgement if:
These same rules apply if you believe you are the parent, but someone else has acknowledged that they are the parent of the child.
You can’t challenge an acknowledgement after the child is two years old.
You will need to prove to the court that the person who acknowledged paternity is NOT the parent.
If you believe you are the parent of a child, but you had no way of knowing it when the child was born, you can challenge an acknowledgement of parentage. You have two years from the time you found out you might be the parent to challenge an Acknowledgement. This is the only situation where someone can challenge an Acknowledgement of Parentage that is more than two years old.
The MPA has many provisions that protect non-biological parents. If you are your child’s presumed parent, or if you are the intended parent of a child born through assisted reproduction or a gestational carrier agreement or have a genetic connection (except for sperm or egg donors), you can establish parentage by signing an Acknowledgement of Parentage.
Some non-biological parents can establish parentage through the MPA’s de facto parent provisions, which require a court to adjudicate the person to be the child’s de facto parent.
The MPA provides important clarity and protections for children born through assisted reproduction (i.e., you did not have sexual intercourse or use a gestational carrier to conceive). The MPA confirms that a gamete donor (e.g., sperm or egg donor) is not a parent of a child conceived through assisted reproduction. Also, the MPA affirms that a person who consents to assisted reproduction with the intent to be a parent of the resulting child is a legal parent and can establish that parentage by signing an Acknowledgement of Parentage.
Yes, Governor Janet Mills signed LD 1539, An Act to Provide Access to Fertility Care, on May 2, 2022, and the law applies to private health plans which are regulated by the Maine Bureau of Insurance that are issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2023. This includes employers who offer insured health plans. Some employers have self-insured plans, and these are not regulated by the Maine Bureau of Insurance.
The law requires all carriers who offer health plans in Maine to provide coverage for medical interventions including fertility diagnostic care, fertility treatment, and medically necessary fertility preservation.
A joint adoption is when both partners adopt a child together at the same time. A second-parent or co-parent adoption is when one partner adopts the other partner’s child. A single-parent adoption is when a single individual adopts a child. All three of these are legal in Maine.
Não. Um pai/mãe que assinou um Reconhecimento de Parentesco não precisa fazer uma adoção por um segundo pai/mãe para estabelecer a filiação. Um Reconhecimento de Parentesco estabelece a filiação legal sob a lei estadual, é equivalente a uma sentença judicial de filiação sob a lei estadual e lhe confere todos os direitos e deveres de um pai/mãe. De acordo com a lei federal, um Reconhecimento de Parentesco é equivalente a um decreto judicial de filiação e deve ser reconhecido em todos os estados.
Como o acesso expandido aos Reconhecimentos de Parentesco é um desenvolvimento emergente, alguns pais podem se sentir mais confortáveis em realizar uma adoção com um segundo pai, além ou em vez de um Reconhecimento de Parentesco. Para entender o que é melhor para sua família, recomendamos aconselhamento jurídico individualizado.
The MPA has comprehensive provisions about how to establish parentage through gestational carrier agreements. Before starting any medical procedures to conceive a child through a carrier process, you must have a written and signed agreement that meets all of the requirements of the statute. This agreement is between you, any other intended parents, the person acting as the surrogate, and that person’s spouse (if applicable). This agreement will establish that you are the parent(s) of the child and that the surrogate and their spouse (if applicable) do not have parental rights or duties
Para celebrar um acordo de barriga de aluguel, todas as seguintes condições devem ser verdadeiras:
A lei exige que os acordos de barriga de aluguel incorporem vários termos para serem válidos, como permitir que uma pessoa que atue como barriga de aluguel tome suas próprias decisões de saúde e bem-estar durante a gravidez e exigir que os futuros pais paguem todos os custos de saúde relacionados.
Yes. If a carrier is a family member, they can serve as a gestational carrier using their own gametes or genetic material. Someone who is not a family member cannot be a genetic gestational carrier. Otherwise, the same laws, including the need for a valid agreement, apply to genetic and non-genetic carriers.
The MPA explicitly provides that every child has the same rights as any other child without regard to the marital status of the parents, or the circumstances of the child’s birth. By not differentiating between parents based on their marital status, the MPA aims to treat all Maine families equally.
The MPA explicitly provides that every child has the same rights as any other child without regard to the gender of the parents or the circumstances of the child’s birth. The MPA, by not including gendered terms such as mother or father, is inclusive of all genders. By not differentiating between parents based on their gender, the MPA aims to treat all Maine families equally.
Yes. Under the MPA, a court may determine that a child has more than two legal parents if the failure to do so would be detrimental to the child. To determine detriment to the child, courts will consider factors such as the nature of the potential parent’s relationship with the child, the harm to the child if the parental relationship is not recognized, the basis for each person’s claim of parentage of the child, and other equitable factors.
As with any family law issue, individualized legal advice is recommended. GLAD Answers can provide information as well as referrals to local practitioners. If you have questions about how to protect your family, contact GLAD Answers by filling out the form at Respostas GLAD ou ligue para 800.455.4523 (GLAD).
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