Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows has upheld a draft order from her elections staff and ruled that a proposed citizen initiative seeking to roll back rights for transgender children in Maine failed to qualify for the November 2026 general election ballot. State election officials who had conducted a court-ordered review found illegal signature-gathering practices…
A ballot initiative targeting the rights of transgender students in Maine should be ruled invalid according to a recommended decision issued on Thursday by the Secretary of State’s office. Thousands of signatures under review were found to be unlawfully collected after evidence was presented at a recent hearing of signature gatherers leaving petitions unattended at…
Witnesses presented evidence Tuesday that signatures submitted for a proposed anti-trans ballot initiative may have been gathered in violation of Maine election law, including testimony that petition sheets were left unattended at polling places and that voters’ names appeared on petitions they never signed. Thousands of signatures submitted by petition effort attempting to prevent transgender…
If there is one issue that marked this legislative session in a way that no other one issue has, it was the full court attacks led by Pres. Donald Trump, GOP state Rep. Laurel Libby, and all the MAGA acolytes trying to reverse civil rights protections for trans children and adults Fully eight bills were…
As Pres. Donald Trump continues his attacks on trans Mainers and other members of the LGBTQ+ community, Maine is still one of the best states for LGBTQ+ equality. Advocates for the community say a key strategy in opposing Trump is taking his orders with a grain of salt. Trump has long used trans rights as…
This week on the podcast, Cate is joined by Lisa Margulies, the vice president of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund. Lisa discusses the potential impacts of a Trump presidency and Republican Congress on reproductive health, as well as how state funding for family planning providers can mitigate this impact. The need for…
Maine Sen. Susan Collins, who has long claimed to support reproductive rights, voted against confirming a judge who has previously defended abortion rights, LGBTQ people and workers as a litigator. Nicole Berner, nominated by Pres. Joe Biden, was confirmed 50-47 on Tuesday to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. She will be…
A Maine bill that would provide protection to out-of-state patients seeking reproductive health services and gender-affirming healthcare here is at the center of a right-wing misinformation panic that has drawn in local neo-Nazis and resulted in a bomb threat against lawmakers last week. Medical professionals, LGBTQ advocates and reproductive rights activists say the far right…
Larry Lockman, who has a long history of extreme anti-LGBTQ, anti-abortion and anti-immigrant activism, says he is pursuing a lawsuit attacking transgender rights in Maine with the help of attorney Jack Baldacci, the son of former Gov. John Baldacci. Lockman shared the news in an email to supporters after he hosted a community forum in…
The Maine Legislature’s Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted down a bill that would have compelled Maine not to cooperate with law enforcement from states that have banned gender-affirming care who are investigating people who have sought such treatment here. LD 1735, a bill sponsored by Democratic Rep. Laurie Osher of Orono, was a top priority…