News from the Pine Tree State
2024 Volunteer champ
Maggie Hirshland, the Youth Engagement Coordinator at the LGBTQIA2S+ youth organization OUT Maine, is the recipient of the Maine Women’s Lobby (MWL) 2024 Volunteer Champion Award.
According to MWL, this award is given to an individual volunteer who helps MWL meet its mission and is a changemaker going above and beyond to a more gender-equitable Maine.
“We believe you have exemplified the spirit of the award,” said Destie Hohman Sprague, MWL’s Executive Director in an email to Maggie, “and we are deeply grateful for all your contributions towards building gender justice in Maine, especially all you have done over the years to support our Girls Day programming and the youth who participate.”
Maggie received the award at MWL’s annual event at Broadturn Farm on June 27.
Shield law signed
In late May, Governor Janet Mills signed into law a bill to protect out-of-state patients seeking gender-affirming care, and also abortions, from states where such health care is illegal, even if received in another state.
Reported the AP, “The proposal created a disagreement between Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey and attorneys general in several other states, including Tennessee. The out-of-state attorneys general threatened legal action if Maine proceeded with its law. Frey dismissed the threats as “meritless.
“The proposal also caused considerable debate in Maine, where Republicans opposed it.”
Said Polly Crozier, director of family advocacy for GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), “It is incredibly important to protect states where care is legal because providers are worried. There’s really a lot of disinformation and misinformation out there. And we want to make sure that in states where care is legal, that providers are able to provide best practice medical care.”
Supporting GSTA programs
OUT Maine received a grant from the Equity Fund of the Maine Community Foundation to expand and strengthen the network of Gay, Straight, and Transgender Alliance (GSTA) programs in schools across Maine.
“As queer youth discover who they are, they often face the risk of isolation or losing part of their community when they come out. The GSTA network helps youth find healthy relationships and spaces where it’s safe and celebrated to be their authentic selves,” says Cassie Cooper, school engagement coordinator at OUT Maine. “This grant will help me travel across Maine to provide programming and support to GSTAs, and also start new ones.”
In the 2023–2024 school year, Cassie traveled over 8,000 miles across the state to bring GSTAs and other OUT Maine programs to schools. They are looking forward to continuing the expansion of OUT Maine’s GSTA network empowered by this grant from the Equity Fund of MaineCF.
More: outmaine.org
Remembering Charlie Howard
Over 100 people gathered in downtown Bangor, Maine this past Sunday, July 7, to mark the 40th anniversary of the murder of Charlie Howard, a young man thrown from a bridge in a terrible act of homophobia.
In July 1984, three teens threw 23-year-old Howard to his death off a bridge over the Kenduskeag Stream in Bangor. Every year, the city of Bangor holds a service for Howard, where flowers are strewn into the Kenduskeag.
“Charlie should have been able to walk down any street and not fear for his life. We shouldn’t have to ask permission to be ourselves,” said Gia Drew, executive director of EqualityMaine, who spoke at the memorial. “We are here today because of what happened. The light that was inside of Charlie has passed on from person to person. And that light will never go out.”
This year, the memorial organizers included EqualityMaine, Health Equity Alliance, the Needlepoint Sanctuary plus “a number of local churches, including the Unitarian Universalist Society of Bangor, a church that Howard himself was a part of,” according to the Bangor Daily News.
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