Maine lgbtq schools
LGBTQ+ Youth Programs in Maine
Supporting Maine Diverse through Ongoing Programs
At OUT Maine, we seek to fortify communities by modifying the very systems that serve youth — schools, health care, foster concern, community organizations, and more. At the center of our efforts are youth programs that add weekly groups and activities, a scholarship program, our free chest binder program, youth overnights, and more parent and teen programs that support LGBTQ+ youth and help design welcoming, safe spaces. You’ll find inclusion training, LGBTQ+ learning resources, kits for educators and professionals, that programs and aide medical and mental health professionals that support LGBTQ+ youth. Our statewide approach is an expanding circle of assist and connection. No other organization in Maine focuses exclusively on listening and responding to the needs of Gay youth.
Find Programs for Youth, Programs for Parents, Programs for Professionals and Training Programs in Maine. Or, request a consultation for setting up a GSTA at your school.
Questions about OUT Maine programs for LGBTQ+ youth, families, professionals, and schools? Contact us at program@outmaine.org.
Maine high school students distinguish as lesbian, gay, fluid or transgender at far higher rates than similarly aged students outside of Maine, and the number of students who name as LGB or T has increased sharply since 2017, according to numbers from Maine Department of Education (MDOE).
It’s one of the most significant trends to emerge from the Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey (MIYHS), a biennial survey of Maine universal school students MDOE conducts in partnership with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.
But very few Maine college officials or policy makers are asking why the trend exists, or what might be causing it.
According to MIYHS data, 29.3 percent of Maine steep school students identified as non-heterosexual or transgender in 2021. That includes 12.3 percent who say they are bisexual, 4.6 percent described as “questioning,” 4.9 percent who have a sexual orientation not offered on the survey, 3.9 percent who are same-sex attracted or lesbian, and 3.6 percent who say they are transgender.
If those numbers from the MDOE survey are accurate, then the findings suggest Maine’s high school population is a significant outlier.
A poll by t
Here, the LGBTQ+ community is not some separate, isolated group. We’re part of the UMF fabric. Always have been. Always will be.
We’re woven into the very tapestry of the institution: across all academic programs; in every club and organization; we’re in our athletics, sports and recreation programs; in trainee government and numerous trainee leadership positions. We’re also in many academic departments (faculty and staff) and administrative departments (staff) across campus.
Here, it’s just not a big deal. It is … but it isn’t. If that makes sense.
Back before you were born, in the overdue 80’s / early 90’s, UMF pioneered one of the very first Homosexual student organizations in northern New England. Our President was one of the first openly gay college presidents in all of New England. We strongly supported the EqualityME group and participated in the annual Portland (and later, Bangor) Pride Parades — all of this way before it was hip to do so.
For years the University of Maine at Farmington has received one of the utmost ratings a college can receive fromCampus Pride, the leading national organization that recognizes colleges for taking steps t
State Profiles
Maine’s Sex Learning Snapshot
There have been incremental advancements in sex education in Maine over the past three years, signifying a unhurried but steady strive to make curriculum more comprehensive statewide. In 2017, the state passed Legislative Directive 1180, requiring child sexual violence prevention education in schools. In 2019, Representative Matthea Daughtry championed Legislative Directive 773, an ultimately successful bill that requires comprehensive family life education to include instruction on affirmative consent. This success marked a significant step forward for Maine’s sex education requirements. While educators report that some schools in Maine have included instruction on okay for many years, they view the new statute as an important opportunity to ensure that all schools involve uniform instruction statewide. Despite these successes, advocates must carry on their efforts to support schools in implementing advanced curriculum that is inclusive of the needs of all students.
While Maine schools are required to educate sex education, curriculum is not required to be comprehensive. Curriculum must comprise medically accurate order on
Why isn’t Maine’s preferred K-12 gender identity curriculum more accessible to parents?
In the aftermath of widespread pandemic-era learning disruptions, many parents and community members are seeking more information on what is being taught in Maine’s classrooms. While the administration of Maine Gov. Janet Mills maintains distance from the efforts of school boards and teachers, several recent developments highlight the extent to which the state government has sanctioned potentially controversial lesson plans.
During the era of remote learning over the 2020-21 school year, the Mills administration and the Maine Department of Education (DOE) commissioned online learning modules to facilitate the sharing of curricula around the state. A lesson plan celebrating “LBGT Activism” was published by a local kindergarten lecturer, for which she was paid $1,000 by the Maine DOE to manufacture. In the video, the teacher defined a transsexual person as someone whose “doctor guessed wrong” when they were born.
This lesson was created for kindergarteners. At best, it was an oversimplification of a complex issue (especially for five-year-olds). At worst, it was state-sponsored medical disinforma