News from the Pine Tree State
Brunswick history-maker
The Brunswick, Maine, Town Council has unanimously selected Councilor-at-Large Nathan MacDonald as its new chair, making him what officials believe is both the youngest person and the first openly LGBTQ+ individual to hold the position, reports the Bangor Daily News. MacDonald, who previously served as vice chair, succeeds Sande Updegraph, who stepped down at the end of 2025. District 5 Councilor Jennifer Hicks was chosen as vice chair.
“I am truly honored by the trust my colleagues have placed in me today,” MacDonald said during Monday’s meeting, adding that the council now includes a majority of women, two renters, and members with a wide range of professional and lived experience.
First elected in 2023, MacDonald is director of the Family Violence Project and has focused on housing and affordability issues during his tenure. His election marks a milestone for representation on the Brunswick Town Council, according to reporting by the Bangor Daily News.
Cheerleading allegation
The US Department of Education has opened a civil rights investigation into Maine’s Newport School District over a transgender student’s participation on a middle school cheerleading team, even though the squad is open to all genders.
Superintendent Michael Hammer told the Portland Press Herald that the cheerleading team is co-ed and that “boys can join, girls can join,” adding that “no one lost a place on the team because a transgender student joined.” Hammer said the federal notice was the first indication that anyone had raised concerns about the student’s participation.
According to LGBTQ Nation, the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights is investigating whether the district allows “male students” to participate on teams designated for girls and to use female facilities, language that reflects the Trump administration’s rejection of gender identity protections under Title IX.
The inquiry follows President Trump’s January executive order reversing the Biden administration’s interpretation of Title IX as protecting transgender students. As the Press Herald notes, most Maine school districts continue to follow the Maine Human Rights Act, which explicitly protects transgender students’ rights to participate in school programs consistent with their gender identity.
Anti-trans ballot question
A group seeking to bar transgender students from participating on school sports teams and from using bathrooms and locker rooms aligned with their gender identity says it has collected enough signatures to place a statewide referendum on Maine’s November ballot, according to the Portland Press Herald.
The group behind the effort, led by Maine Girl Dads co-leader Leyland Streiff, announced it submitted more than 82K signatures—about 14,000 more than the minimum required—to the Maine Department of the Secretary of State for verification. If certified, the measure would go before voters this fall.
The proposed referendum would require public school students to play on athletic teams based on the sex listed on their birth certificates. It would also mandate that students use restrooms, locker rooms and other private spaces based on the sex they were assigned at birth, though girls would be allowed to join boys’ teams if no girls’ team exists in a given sport.
Maine officials have defended current policy under the Maine Human Rights Act, which bans discrimination based on gender identity. The proposed referendum would carve out an exception to that law for sports and school facilities.
Safer Schools conference
Calling all educators, youth service providers and youth leaders in grades 7–12: EqualityMaine’s annual education conference returns on March 27. The Conference is organized by Equality Maine, Educate Maine and Cumberland County Public Health with the support of community partners and organizations to drive the mission of increasing identity-related safety and inclusion for youth in Maine.
The focus of this day-long conference is to uplift, empower and educate youth, educators and other youth service providers in this mission through workshops and panel discussions that focus on supporting LGBTQ+ youth and allies, GSA’s, mental health & well-being, as well as workshops centered on inclusion of and mattering to BIPOC students and students with disabilities.
More: equalitymaine.org
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