Maine Trans Student Wins Landmark Discrimination Case

[Shana A]

Maine Trans Student Wins Landmark Discrimination Case
A Maine court rules in favor of a transgender teen who had been blocked from using the girls' restroom at school.
BY Parker Marie Molloy
January 30 2014 2:14 PM ET

http://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2014/01/30/trans-student-maine-wins-landmark-discrimination-case

A transgender girl from Orono, Maine, has come away victorious in a lawsuit filed against her school district. The Maine High Court today ruled that Nicole Maines must be provided the same access to school facilities as other female students, citing Maine's Human Rights Act in its findings.

Jennifer Levi, director of Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders' Transgender Rights Project, lauded the court's decision. "This is a momentous decision that marks a huge breakthrough for transgender young people," Levi said in a press release. "Schools have a responsibility to create a learning environment that meets and balances the needs of all kids and allows every student to succeed. For transgender students this includes access to all school facilities, programs, and extracurricular activities in a way that is consistent with their gender identity."

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Maine Supreme Court rules transgender student cannot be denied bathroom access
Posted by Justin Snow
January 30, 2014 3:50 PM

http://www.metroweekly.com/poliglot/2014/01/maine-supreme-court-rules-transgender-student-cann.html

Maine's highest court sided with a transgender girl Thursday in a ruling that stated her school violated state law when it denied her access to the girls' restroom.

The 5-1 decision by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court reversed a lower court's ruling from November 2012 and stated that the school was in violation of Maine's Human Rights Act when it denied Nicole Maines (referred to in the ruling as Susan Doe) access to the appropriate bathroom when she was a fifth-grade student at Asa Adams Elementary School in 2007.

According to the ruling, "it has been clearly established that a student's psychological well-being and educational success depend upon being permitted to use the communal bathroom consistent with her gender identity, denying access to the appropriate bathroom constitutes sexual orientation discrimination in violation of the [Maine Human Rights Act]."

[sneakersjay]

http://www.glad.org/current/item/breakthrough-ruling-in-favor-of-transgender-student

[Kayla]

I met the family last year at Philly trans health. The dad is an amazing public speaker: he brought the room to tears and getting a standing ovation. I'm really happy for her and her family.

[Kyra553]

Very good news indeed, well deserved.

[GorJess]

I met the family last year at Philly trans health. The dad is an amazing public speaker: he brought the room to tears and getting a standing ovation. I'm really happy for her and her family.

Me too, same place! I know Wayne did at least his own, but he also spoke (as an audience member) in a session with Jazz (all the while Nicole, the girl in the article, was reacting by blushing at her father's stories about her when she way younger, hehe). If you met them there, at the one with Jazz and Jeanette, you heard me speak, haha. I was the one talking about thanking our parents to make this all possible for us, to make us have a better life. Any chance you recall that?