Maine Organizations United Against Anti-Trans Ballot Petition
Anti-trans activists have begun collecting signatures for a potential ballot initiative that would allow harassment and bullying of and discrimination against Maine children
For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, November 5, 2025
Contact:
Gia Drew, Executive Director, EqualityMaine: 207-423-0580
Destie Hohman Sprague, Executive Director, Maine Women’s Lobby: 207-406-0838
Amanda Johnston, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders: 617-417-7769
(Augusta, MAINE) – For over 20 years, Maine law has protected people from discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. These safeguards, which are included in the Maine Human Rights Act, are supported by the majority of Mainers, and have been tested in both the courts and in the legislature. We believe that all students — and all people — have the right to safety, dignity, inclusion, and respect at school and beyond.
This attempt at a ballot initiative is not just a threat to students: it’s a threat to the way life should be in Maine. A Maine where our values are based on building trusting relationships with our neighbors and creating welcoming communities that give youth a chance to grow, connect, and thrive without additional hurdles.
As signatures are collected for this discriminatory measure, Mainers are struggling to heat their homes, feed their families, and afford healthcare. Our organizations remain steadfast in our focus on protecting the rights and dignity of all Mainers, and will not be distracted by a national political agenda that is at odds with our Maine values.
Gia Drew, Executive Director, EqualityMaine
“At EqualityMaine, we work to ensure all students, regardless of gender identity or sex, can go to school and use all facilities without barriers, play sports with their friends, have a sense of belonging, and be a part of a team without feeling excluded or experiencing harassment. We believe this is best for kids and EqualityMaine is ready to fight for them. We must speak up for what’s right, for the values of dignity and respect, and for a Maine where every student knows they belong.”
Kris Pitts, Executive Director, MaineTransNet
“It is wholly disappointing that the youngest members of Maine’s transgender community are again being targeted by regressive and unjust political actions rooted in rhetoric that mirrors a larger, national disinformation campaign. MaineTransNet works to support and empower transgender people to create a world where they can thrive. Today, this means recommitting to showing up to help ensure students are seen and validated for who they are, wherever they are, across our great state.”
Destie Hohman Sprague, Executive Director, Maine Women’s Lobby
“Maine has a long history of protecting civil rights and gender expression, and of protecting home rule. Efforts like this, and like last session’s defeated legislation, prey on fears while doing nothing to support the real lives of women and girls. Maine Women’s Lobby opposes any effort to roll back our rights with a national political agenda that will harm Mainers, as this measure is intended to do.”
Mary Bonauto, Senior Director of Civil Rights and Legal Strategies, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law)
“As Mainers, we all care about our schools as a place where all students and their families belong and where students learn the skills needed to succeed in an ever-changing world. This proposal dictates that some people don’t belong, which is the exact opposite of what students and families need and what public schools stand for. Our schools work best when they’re places where every child is safe to learn and thrive, supported by parents and teachers working together. This proposal threatens that balance.”
Dee Kerry, Executive Director, The Maine Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics
“The Maine AAP will always stand against efforts that deny all children and adolescents their right to learn, play, and participate in school safely and with dignity. Every child deserves inclusion, protection, and opportunity to thrive.”
Sue Campbell, Executive Director, OUT Maine
“OUT Maine’s goal is to protect, support, and create affirming spaces for LGBTQIA2S+ youth across our state. This ballot initiative is another attempt to discriminate, not only against queer and transgender youth, but against the families, educators, and communities who stand with them. Last session, we showed that hate has no place in Maine by defeating anti-trans legislation. We will continue to stand united until every young person in Maine feels safe and affirmed.”
Aspen Ruhlin, Community Engagement Manager, Mabel Wadsworth Center
“As a feminist health center that has been well-known for advocating for women for more than four decades, we at Mabel Wadsworth Center recognize that these attacks on transgender people have nothing to do with protecting women and girls. This ballot question is yet another attempt to unjustly divide and control Mainers. Maine is no place for hate or this national anti-trans political agenda.”
Osgood, Executive Director, Portland Outright
“This year in Maine, we have encountered unprecedented energy focused on undermining the rights, autonomy, and dignity of trans and gender nonconforming young people, especially in schools. At Portland Outright, we believe that it is important that students have the agency to work alongside adult allies in building strategies for the safety and rights of transgender students. We want young people and their families to know that we are with you and committed to the steadfast organizing it takes to win this fight.”
Katie Rutherford, Executive Director, Frannie Peabody Center
“As an organization rooted in compassionate, client-centered care and advocacy, Frannie Peabody Center knows that protecting transgender rights is vital to the health and well-being of our entire community. We call on neighbors, families, and allies to come together in creating schools and spaces where every child can thrive, grow, and be celebrated—free from fear or discrimination.”
Jess Maurer, Executive Director, Maine Council on Aging (MCOA)
“Maine should be a place where we can all live healthy, engaged, and secure lives as we age in our homes and communities. When we single out trans kids in schools for exclusion, we set a precedent that echoes across a lifetime impacting trans elders in hospitals and nursing homes. Our institutions should be places where everyone is safe, valued, and respected at every stage of life.”
###