Maine High School: ‘Gender Expansive’ Boys Can Compete in Girls Sports and Sleep in Girls Rooms on Overnight Field Trips

The Falmouth High School Civil Rights Team on Tuesday gave a presentation on the Falmouth Public Schools’ recently adopted “Transgender and Gender Expansive Students” policy, that directs school staff to assist students in changing their “gender identity,” to use a student’s chosen pronouns and name, and to allow students to use restrooms and locker rooms facilities that “closely match their gender identity.”

[RELATED: Falmouth Parents Rip Woke School District for Keeping Football Coach After Players Complained of Racism, Lack of Safety…]

The policy also allows students to choose whether they want to stay in accommodations for boys or girls on school-sponsored overnight field trips, and to participate in sports “in accordance with their gender identity.”

The presentation begins by defining the several gender-related neologisms included in the district policy, including “Gender Expansive,” “Gender Non-Conforming,” “gender-fluid,” and “cisgender.”

“Transgender is an umbrella term used to describe a person whose gender identity or expression is different from their sex assigned at birth,” the presentation reads.

“Gender Expansive or Gender Non-Conforming are umbrella terms used to describe people who expand notions of gender expression and identity beyond the gender binary,” the presentation continues. “Examples include people who may be gender-fluid, embracing an adaptable nature to the concept of gender identity and expression.”

Notably, the district policy provides that “it shall remain the student’s prerogative to initiate changes to their name and/or gender identity, which does not require a medical diagnosis.”

In two “Why is this policy important?” slides, the Civil Rights Team states that “We have gender-expansive students in our school community and it’s important for them to feel welcome, included, and to know their rights.”

“Transgender and gender-expansive students are at a much higher risk for bullying, being absent from school, and suicide.”

The second slide is directed toward “cisgender” students, informing them that other students may not “fit into the gender binary,” may use pronouns other than he/she, and that students of other genders may share bathrooms, locker rooms, and other facilities with the “cisgender” students.

The Civil Rights Team presentation goes on to detail the rights of students under the newly adopted district policy, beginning with the fact that biological males may participate in sports against biological females, and that students may request to use a new chosen name in school records.

Next, the presentation informs students that they may meet with a school counselor to set up a “support plan” to assist them in changing their gender, a measure provided by the district policy.

Not included in the presentation is the stipulation in the district policy that states “parents/guardians and school staff have a right to access all education records of their child and therefore the school cannot keep the change in name and/or gender a secret.”

The presentation does, however, inform students that under the policy staff are “advised to take care not to share information about a student’s identity that they want kept private,” while warning students that there is no guarantee that information they share with staff will be kept private.

[RELATED: Falmouth Teacher Lectured Elementary Schooler on “Misgendering” Non-Binary Peer: Emails…]

“So, please be mindful when sharing a name and pronouns with staff that are different from what you use at home or with friends,” the presentation adds.

As outlined in the district policy, the presentation informs students that transgender and “gender expansive” students can use restrooms, locker rooms and other facility that “most closely align with their gender identity.”

The policy also provides that on school-sponsored overnight field trips, transgender students “can stay in the room that aligns with your gender identity,” while “Gender expansive students can stay in the room of your choice.”

Under the district policy, “Administrators, school staff, volunteers, students and others who interact with students are expected to be responsive to the language that the individual transgender or gender expansive student uses for themselves,” and the presentation affirms this policy in the following slide.

[RELATED: Maine School Meeting Erupts Into Bullying and Smears Over DEI Policies: “You just straight up f****ng racist.”…]

Neither the presentation nor the policy itself provides guidance on what discipline or punishment may be handed down upon students or staff who do not use a student’s chosen name and pronouns.

The district’s bullying policy, however, which covers statements made on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, states that students who are found bullying may be subject to punishment up to suspension and expulsion.

According to the presentation, the Falmouth High Civil Rights Team is putting up a “Progress Pride Flag” in the school as “a sign that we are a safe and welcoming place,” while pride flags have already been put up at the Falmouth Middle and Elementary schools.

The presentation concludes by directing students to participate in an online “Kahoot” quiz which tests the students on their knowledge and adherence to the new district policy.

Questions included on the quiz include:

• What does it mean to be gender expansive?
• True or false: Transgender and gender expansive students are at a much higher risk for bullying being absent, and suicide.
• What does it mean to be transgender?
• If a student is gender expansive and wants to play sports at Falmouth, they can be on a team…
• What does it mean to be cisgender?
• Students at Falmouth schools need parent/guardian permission to request an updated name or pronouns on PowerSchool (Answer: False).
• Who would you contact if you would like to change your name or pronouns in PowerSchool? (Answer: Your school counselor)
• True or false: Students can use the bathroom/locker room that most closely aligns with their gender identity.
• When participating in a school related overnight trip, transgender and gender expansive students stay in rooms…
• What does the white/blue/pink on the Progress Pride Flag represent?

The Maine Attorney General’s Office launched the Civil Rights Teams Project in 1996, and now oversees Civil Rights Teams at more than 200 schools throughout all sixteen counties in the state.

The Attorney General’s Office describes the role of the Civil Rights Teams as “meets regularly and initiates projects that engage their school community in thinking and talking about issues related to race and skin color, national origin and ancestry, religion, disabilities, gender (including gender identity and expression) and sexual orientation in an age-appropriate manner.”

School Civil Rights Teams receive “structure and support” from the Attorney General’s office, and while they are ostensibly student-led clubs, they are supervised by one or more adult staff advisors.

At Falmouth High School, the two co-advisors of the Civil Rights Team are Erin Finn, a math teacher at the school, and Ashley Pullen, a post-secondary counselor.

Falmouth Elementary and Middle Schools also participate in the Attorney General’s Civil Rights Team Project with teams of their own.

According to a summer 2023 newsletter on the Civil Rights Team Project published by the Maine Attorney General’s Office, for “Pride Month” (June 2023) the Falmouth Elementary School Civil Rights Team “joined forces with their school’s Parent-Teacher Organization to support Maine LGBTQ+ causes.”

[RELATED: Falmouth Elementary School Hosts “Pride” Fundraiser for Democratic Lobbyist Group…]

The PTO, alongside students in grades three to five, sold yard signs displaying “Falmouth has pride” and “Hate has no home here” slogans, and used the proceeds to donate $1,000 each to EqualityMaine, a Maine-based leftist lobbying organization, and the Portland chapter of PFLAG, or “Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.”