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.
签名，
ACLU Maine
缅因州平等组织
GLBTQ 法律倡导者和捍卫者 (GLAD)
Maine Women’s Lobby
Out Maine
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.
玛丽·金
“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.
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 engage秒 in the courts and at policy tables, 在 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 change秒.
Nondiscrimination Laws: Fair Access toHousing and Public Spaces
高兴的 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.
高兴的 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 protections是critical 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 康涅狄格州亲子关系法(CPA) 曾是一个 victory years in the making. GLAD co-led 这 我们关爱联盟 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 缅因州亲子关系法 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, 缅因州亲子法更新法案, 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 马萨诸塞州 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 安全 (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 和 治疗.
Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth: Schools, Child Welfare, and Juvenile Justice Systems
In June,justice-involved youth in 缅因州 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 在 this 3-year effort 到 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 th在 账单 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 这 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 和 这 child welfare, education, public safety, and corrections systems, with a final report completed by November 2022.
在马萨诸塞州， 高兴的 支持 Citizens for Juvenile Justice in their efforts to pass 改善青少年司法数据收集的法案 (S 1558/H 1795). This billrequire秒collecting 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 1795还requires 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, 高兴的 是 还 advancing structural reforms in our child welfare systems 和 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.
本届会议在缅因州，GLAD consulted on the substance of and 支持 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 这 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, 到 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 为了 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) 和 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 是 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 和 communities of color, looks forward 到 supporting 这 use of this important and innovative tool.
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