The Maine Supreme Judicial Court heard arguments last week in a case about which bathrooms transgender youth should use in school.
The Maine Human Rights Commission and the Maines family sued the Orono school district after Nicole Maines was required to use a staff bathroom at her elementary school when she was in fifth grade.
The now-15-year-old, who is biologically male but identifies and lives as a girl, said she wouldn’t wish her experience on anyone, according to the Associated Press report. She spoke to the justices at the hearing, and afterward said, “I hope they understood how important it is for students to be able to go to school and get an education and have fun and make friends, and not have to worry about being bullied by students or administration, and be accepted for who they are.”
Maines and other transgender youth should be able to use the bathroom with which they identify, even if it’s the opposite of their birth sex.
At such a young age, children and teenagers are not able to make the decisions that adults can about their gender, to help make their outward appearance match their identity. Adults can have gender reassignment surgery, take hormones and afford other treatments.
Adults also don’t have to ask their parents.
Thankfully, it appears Maines’ family supports her and her choices, but other children may not be so lucky. That’s why it’s so important that schools be a safe haven where students are treated equally and not singled out because they are different.
In Maines’ case in particular, her fellow students were not even raising concerns about which bathroom she used, it was the grandfather of a fifth-grade boy who complained to school officials. Using the girls bathroom would come naturally to Maines, who is a biological male but has identified as a girl from an early age. Some of her classmates would probably not have known that she is biologically male if they were not told, and the privacy of a girls bathroom would not allow other girls to know, either.
While requiring Maines to use the staff bathroom probably seemed like the safest choice for school officials, it did single her out, and does appear to be discrimination under the Maine Human Rights Act. Requiring her to use the boys bathroom would have been even worse, and we’re glad she wasn’t forced to do so, but keeping her from experiencing the same activities and facilities as her peers is discriminatory, and the school district should allow students to make the choice about which bathroom they feel comfortable using.
As the court considers this case, we hope the justices will continue Maine’s history of supporting human rights and uphold the Maine Human Rights Act for Maines and the other youth out there who are also struggling with the already difficult situations that arise in school and in forming their own identities.
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Today’s editorial was written by City Editor Robyn Burnham on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.
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