Youth | Schools | Maine

If you would like school staff to use your chosen name and pronouns, the Maine Human Rights Commission suggests that you or your parents should make that request to school staff in writing. Their position is that the school must then use your chosen name and pronouns on all documents and in all communications. However, your official student record has to use your legal name. If you have had a legal name change, your parent or guardian can ask the school to update your official record.  

If you ask your school to use a chosen name for you but have not yet talked to your parent or guardian about that, you should know that using a nickname or other new name at school means that others will have and could share that information. And if you are a minor (under age 18) or in some other circumstances, your parents have a right to look at your student records. If you need help deciding whether to ask your school to use your chosen name, you should strongly consider talking with a trusted adult at home or at school first. A trusted adult might be able to help you think about your specific situation, or make a plan to share that part of yourself with a parent or guardian. You can also check to see whether your school has a policy listing a specific person to support transgender students. (Those policies are often on school board websites and may be titled “ACAAA” or “JB.”) 

Learn more about the laws on names and pronouns.  

The Maine Human Rights Commission has stated that you are allowed to compete on high school sports teams consistent with your gender identity. The Maine Principals’ Association (which governs high school athletics) gives schools the authority to verify a student’s gender identity for the purpose of playing a sport – but your school is not allowed to request medical records or official documents to do so.  

You also have the right to use the toilet, locker room, and shower facilities consistent with your gender identity.  

Schools can decide to give any student—LGBTQ+ or not—the option to use facilities that provide extra privacy (like a single-stall restroom or curtained changing areas in a locker room). But schools can’t require you to use separate facilities based on your gender identity.   

 Learn more about the laws on athletics and school facilities. 

You are allowed to dress in line with your gender identity. If the school has a dress code, it should be applied consistent with your gender identity. 

Learn more about the laws on student appearance. 

If you attend a public secondary school or a secondary school that receives any federal funding – which includes many private schools – and if your school allows any non-curricular clubs (a club not associated with a subject taught at your school) to meet during non-classroom time, you have the right to start a Gender & Sexuality Alliance (GSA) or other LGBTQ+ club. 

Thanks to a law called the Equal Access Act, your school is not allowed to discriminate against a GSA just because it addresses issues related to LGBTQ+ students.  

Learn more about your rights to create a GSA.    

If you are being counseled by a school counselor or school social worker, they may be able to keep information you share confidential under a specific Maine law. This law applies to school counselors and school social workers who meet certain requirements. However, even counselors and social workers who meet those requirements can share information with another adult if you or others are in danger, or if they need to report child abuse or neglect. If you are trying to decide whether to talk with the counselor or social worker at your school, you can ask them to explain whether they are allowed to keep information confidential, and under what circumstances they would share what you tell them with your parent, guardian, or another adult.  

 
Maine has a law to protect you from the practice of “conversion therapy,” a practice which seeks to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. School social workers and school counselors (and other licensed healthcare professionals) who practice conversion therapy can face discipline.  

Learn more about school counseling laws. 

You have the right to attend schools that are safe, secure, and peaceful environments so you can get the education you deserve. The Maine legislature has said that bullying can negatively impact the school environment and student learning and wellbeing. That is why bullying and discrimination are prohibited in Maine.  

Bullying based on your actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, or other protected characteristics (including your race and ethnicity, religion, national origin, socioeconomic status, age, disability, gender, physical appearance, weight, and family status) is prohibited in Maine. Bullying is not allowed online or on any school property. 

Bullying includes any communication (written, oral, or electronic) or physical act or gesture that: 

• Harms you or your property, or places you in a reasonable fear of harm; 

• Creates an intimidating or hostile school environment; or 

• Interferes with your academic performance or ability to participate in school activities. 

Schools must have policies and procedures to prevent bullying and cyberbullying and address it when it occurs. 

Learn more about anti-bullying laws. 

In some cases, there may be challenges for a student, their parents or guardians, and their school in reaching agreement on what will best support the student. If you and your parent are in agreement and struggling to get your school to see your point of view, see GLAD Law’s suggestions on steps you can take together. 

Other times, students may be seeking support at school before they ask for it at home, and may ask schools for support in talking with their parent or guardian about any number of issues.   In situations where a parent or guardian may not agree with how their child expresses their gender identity or sexual orientation at school, the Maine Human Rights Commission recommends that schools should try, whenever possible, to follow students’ wishes while they are at school. In practice, schools will likely consider the student’s individual circumstances – such as the student’s age, maturity, school engagement, what the school is hearing from the student and from their family and any other relevant information about how to proceed.  

Just like students have certain rights under law, so do parents. And parents can monitor a child’s progress at home, on school portals, and by meeting with teachers or staff. Parents typically have strong relationships with their children and know them well enough that they can perceive when there is something they need to discuss. Many schools want to collaborate with parents as partners. Ideally, school staff and parents can reach out to one another to understand how to help each child succeed at school.  

When disagreements arise, it can be helpful to remember that parents and teachers, school administrators, and staff all want students to be happy, healthy, and successful – in and out of the classroom. Parents will always be teachers to their children. And while parents can and do teach their values to their children at home, schools have to manage their students and school operations. This is why courts overwhelmingly reject claims that parents can direct schools’ day-to-day practices based on their beliefs about how educators should do their jobs.   

Learn more about laws on parents and education.