Nearly 30 percent of Maine’s government-run school districts will conceal children’s health information from parents as it relates to gender dysphoria or transgender treatments, often described by LGBTQ advocates as “gender affirming care.”
That number was derived from public records obtained under Maine’s Freedom of Access Act by Parents Defending Education and reported exclusively Wednesday by The Federalist.
[RELATED: Trans Identifying Male Leap-frogs Competitors at Girls’ Pole Vaulting Meet in Maine…]
From The Federalist:
According to documents reviewed by The Federalist and obtained by Parents Defending Education through public records requests, a significant portion of Maine’s public school districts — including its most populous ones — hide students’ critical medical and social information from parents if they are unwilling to allow their child to “transition” genders.
The school districts are potentially putting at risk the lives of their students — and at the very least their mental and physical health — by hiding the information from the parents, as allowing children to pursue such delusions is a dangerous experiment pushed only by the most radical predators and not backed by medical science.
“Maine is a state that has gone all in on gender ideology in K-12 schools,” Erika Sanzi, director of outreach for PDE, told The Federalist. “We see it in these policies to knowingly withhold information from parents about their own child’s gender identity at school and we see it in the governor’s insistence that males be allowed to participate and compete in girls’ sports. It’s all indefensible as well as wildly unpopular among voters, regardless of their political party.”
The districts’ policies add to the hot water Maine has recently found itself in, as intransigent behavior by the state’s Democrat governor, Janet Mills, has resulted in a federal civil rights investigation over the state allowing boys to compete against girls in sports. The state could lose $250 million in federal education funding if it is found to be violating civil rights law.
…
Portland Public Schools, the state’s largest district, has a “Transgender and Gender Expansive Students” policy that directs school staff to hide any abnormal “gender identity” information from parents who might not allow their children to pursue social or medical “transition.”
“In the event that a student and their parent or legal guardian do not agree with regard to the student’s gender identity or gender expression, the school shall abide by the wishes of the student with regard to their gender identity and gender expression while at school,” the policy states. “School staff shall comply with the student’s wishes regarding disclosure of their transgender status to others, including but not limited to parents or guardians, students, volunteers or other school staff, unless the student has explicitly authorized the disclosure or unless legally required to do so.”
The students who claim to be transgender can also use restrooms and locker rooms that match their new “identity” — girls can be forced to use the restroom with boys and undress in front of them as well. Staff and students are forced to use the “preferred pronouns” of the students who make the “gender identity” claims.
Other major school districts in Maine, including Lewiston, Bangor, Auburn, and many others have nearly identical policies. Part of the reason for that is the policy was created by the Maine School Boards Association and proliferated among many of the districts.
[Read the full Federalist story here…]
Although the Maine Wire has previously reported on instances of school adopting — and exploiting — policies that allow staff to secretly counsel students on sex changes, we have not independently reviewed the documents obtained by Parents Defending Education.
The report comes as Maine finds itself embroiled in a national firestorm over Gov. Janet Mills conflict with President Donald Trump.
What began with Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) posting a image that showed a male pole-vaulter improving from 5th place among other males to 1st place among females has now grown into political warfare between Maine’s increasingly left-wing governor and the Republican president.
Last week, Trump confronted Mills in person over Maine’s evident unwillingness to comply with federal civil rights protections which, thanks to Trump’s recent Executive Order on the matter, now prohibit female athletes from being forced to compete against males who identify as females.
In response, Mills threatened to sue the federal government — or to defend her policies in the face of a lawsuit from Trump’s Department of Justice.
“We’ll see you in court,” Mills said.
Trump responded by confirming that Maine stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding if the governor maintains the current course and continues to flout federal civil rights law.
In characteristic Trump fashion, he also leveled a few personal jibes at the 77-year-old governor.
“Enjoy your life after governor, because I don’t think you’ll be an elected official afterwards,” Trump said.
Since that time, the story line has continued to develop, which Republicans and Democrats seeking political advantages over the high profile spat.
Jeremy Kennedy, Mills’ chief of staff, made another round of headlines over the weekend when he stormed out of a meeting with White House staff with a profane rant.
Although Kennedy has denied using x-rated language, witnesses have since confirmed that he said, “F*** you, you a**hole!” before storming out of the meeting.
On Tuesday, Democrats retaliated by holding a late night censure vote against Rep. Libby’s whose social media post spread across the Internet like wildfire and likely put the issue on Trump’s radar in the first place.
Focusing on Libby’s decision to post an unredacted picture of a minor — a picture that was already available publicly on Facebook and other track-and-field websites — Democratic lawmakers accused Libby of cyberbullying a minor and voted in unison to censure her.
As a result of the censure vote, Libby will be disallowed from voting or speaking in the House chamber until she renders an apology that satisfies Speaker of the House Ryan Fecteau (D-Biddeford).
Although Democrats have tried to put on a good face and treat Mills clash with Trump as a politically advantageous moment for Maine Democrats and the governor, the only ones who seem to be buying the spin are Maine’s media outlets. While Maine’s legacy media outlets have rarely criticized the governor during her six years in office, the fight with Trump has pushed their journalism into a new realm of left-wing political spin, almost as if their living in or trying to project an alternative universe.
The Bangor and Portland newspapers, as well as the taxpayer funded Maine Public news site, all issued reports chronicling the events that cast Mills as a kind of anti-Trump heroine.
Mills wasn’t feeling very heroic on Tuesday when she skated past a gaggle of reporters and refused to acknowledge their questions, including questions from the Maine Wire.
Likewise, House Democrats weren’t in the mood for adversarial media Tuesday night following the censure vote when they disallowed an independent filmmaker from attending a comment session and instead allowed only a few hand-picked reporters to come transcribe their talking points.
Libby, for her part, has said she has no plans on apologizing for posting the image and told Fox News on Wednesday that she’s exploring the possibility of a legal challenge to the House rules which now prevent her from casting a vote on behalf of her Auburn area constituents.
Maine Republican Party Chairman Jim Deyermond, who had previously refrained from entering the State House fray, issued a statement Wednesday afternoon confirming that the Republican Party is standing behind Libby.
“Let me be crystal clear, we stand with Laurel Libby against this censure. This move is nothing more than a desperate attempt by Democrats and the media to change the subject from Janet Mills’ petulant fight with President Trump,” said Deyermond.
“Every Republican in the Maine House voted against this censure of Rep. Libby and everyone on our team stands with her as well. Democrats started this culture war, but we intend to finish it,” said Deyermond.
Meanwhile, a letter from Attorney General Pam Bondi delivered to Mills Tuesday has brought the cloud of multiple federal investigations over the state — investigations that may or may not go away should Mills make a tactical retreat to preserve Maine’s federal funding.
According to a New York Times / Ipsos poll conducted in Jan. 2025, just 21 percent of Americans support policies that force female athletes to compete against male athletes.
In the last two-year budget (FY24-25), Maine spent roughly $13.8 billion dollars, of which $5 billion came from the federal government.
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