Taxpayer funding for Out Maine, a far left nonprofit group, increased significantly during Democratic Gov. Janet Mills’ first term as governor, tax documents show.
Out Maine, a Rockland-based organization, reported receiving more than $215,000 in taxpayer money in 2020, according to the organization’s most recent Form 990. The group also reported income worth more than $37,000 on “training and youth registration fees” as well as $485,000 in private contributions.
Taxpayer dollars flowing to Out Maine have increased every year since 2016, the first year it reported receiving government funding. In 2019, the group got $112,690 in government grants. In 2018, that number was $62,726. All told, the group has received government grants worth nearly $400,000 under the Mills administration.
The group has advocated in defense of keeping Gender Queer, a comic book that depicts minors having oral and anal sex, in Maine’s schools. Photographs obtained by The Maine Wire show the group has also partnered with Mills’ Dept. of Education to put fliers in at least one Maine school conveying radical left-wing theories about gender and human sexuality, including to children as young as kindergarten.
One set of fliers, posted in the Vinalhaven K-12 school, solicits children as young as 9 for a gay, lesbian, and transgender themed Zoom after school “hang out” that takes place on Wednesdays. Anyone with access to a computer can sign up for the event, with no parental consent required, though it’s unclear if the program is still happening.
Another poster, also available to elementary school children, describes the various sexual attractions and genders students’ might choose from, including pansexual, asexual, transgender and cisgender.
The push by Mills Dept. of Education and partners like Out Maine to place sexualized content in front of young children has become a flashpoint in gubernatorial and state legislative elections.
[REALTED: Maine Parents React to Pornographic School Books in New Ad…]
Conservative PACs and organizations have spent heavily drawing attention to the radical content in schools and the Mills administrations’ apparent support for the sexually themed books and fliers.
Locally, conservative outcry has led to several contentious school board meetings, with parents and taxpayers protesting against sexually explicit content being offered to their kids without their knowledge or consent.
Although some towns have succeeded in having sexually explicit materials removed from classrooms and libraries, most school boards have sided with activists and groups like Out Maine.