The Maine Human Rights Commission filed a lawsuit Monday in Kennebec County Superior Court against five school districts for discrimination against transgender students. The suit alleges the districts have enacted policies that treat gender non-conforming students differently and create a hostile environment.
The school districts named in the complaint are MSAD 70 in Hodgdon, RSU 24 in Sullivan, RSU 73 in Livermore Falls, and the Baileyville and Richmond School Departments.
They've adopted policies this year that block students from accessing sports, extracurricular activities, and school facilities, such as bathrooms and locker rooms, according to their sexual identity.
Kit Thomson Crossman, the executive director of the Maine Human Rights Commission, says it's unusual for the agency to initiate legal action. But they say it was necessary because of the growing number of districts adopting such policies, and the need to protect transgender and gender non-conforming students.
"Who, I would imagine, are feeling intimidated about using bathrooms, using locker rooms, playing sports, sort of participating in their school life fully," Thomson Crossman says.
The lawsuit is asking the court to declare that the school policies violate the Maine Human Rights Act and order the schools to repeal them.
President Trump issued an executive order earlier this year that seeks to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls' sports.
The school districts named in the lawsuit did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
