Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

(Maine) Panel rules against Orono school in transgender bathroom access
Bangor Daily News ^ | 9/20/2010 | Heather Steeves

Posted on 09/22/2010 9:40:56 AM PDT by markomalley

AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Human Rights Commission ruled Monday that Orono Middle School unlawfully discriminated against a sixth-grader during the 2008-2009 school year by not letting the male-to-female transgender student use the girls’ bathroom.

This is the same student whose parents filed a similar discrimination complaint against Asa Adams Elementary School in Orono when their child was a fifth grader there during the 2007-2008 school year. That case resulted in the same ruling against the school district in June 2009.

Also Monday, the commission members again began talks about developing anti-discrimination guidelines specifically for schools under the Maine Human Rights Act.

The parents of the child, who no longer attends schools in the district, wrote in their latest complaint to the commission that she experienced anxiety and depression after officials at Orono Middle School forced her to use a gender-neutral bathroom and her peers picked on her.

“In choosing to disallow [her] to use the girls’ bathroom facilities, the school was implicitly isolating and alienating her from other students,” the parents wrote. “We determined that we needed to modify our actions to do the best we could to ensure [our child’s] safety.”

The school’s response stated that the district accommodated the child by training the staff, educating the students, giving the transgender student her own bathroom, giving her her own locker room and meeting with her parents almost daily.

“For the most part, she appeared to be happy and involved in the school community,” the school district wrote.

In addition to the bathroom complaint, the student’s family alleged that Orono Middle School subjected her to a hostile educational environment.

The commission’s investigator did cite in her report derogatory remarks made by other students as well as several allegations of stalking by a boy who once followed the transgender student into the girls room and harassed her by calling her “faggot.”

But the commissioners agreed with the investigator that there were “no reasonable grounds” to believe the school subjected the student to a hostile educational environment.

Neither side was in attendance at Monday’s meeting because neither party filed a letter of disagreement with the commission investigator’s report.

“I don’t think it changes anything,” the school district’s lawyer, Melissa Hewey, said regarding the commission’s decision. “I think it’s a good ruling in that it recognized the efforts the school went through to help the student in terms of the harassment issue. The bathroom issue is something the court has to rule on.”

The district is currently fighting a lawsuit against the child’s family in Penobscot County Superior Court. The new decision against the middle school will likely be added to the lawsuit, which was filed after the commission’s ruling in the Asa Adams case.

Hewey said the Orono school district has not changed its policies.

“The student is not there, so it is currently not an issue,” Hewey said.

She said no other students in the district have since asked for accommodations related to their gender.

The family’s lawyer said Monday that they filed the human rights complaint against Orono Middle School because the school’s policies remain unchanged.

“[Orono Middle School] continued to discriminate against the child after the last [commission] decision. It is clear we have to pursue this further to get them to comply,” attorney Jodi Nofsinger said Monday after the ruling.

Nofsinger said the legal battle stretched beyond this one child and is more about making the Orono schools comfortable educational environments for other transgender children who might attend the schools in the future.

“They continue [discrimination] up until the present time. They are in violation to the law,” Nofsinger said. “The school’s policy still has not changed.”

Members of the Maine Human Rights Commission also discussed Monday plans to work in coordination with the state education commissioner to develop rules regarding sexual orientation, race, national origin and disabilities as they apply to education under the Maine Human Rights Act. Currently, the Maine Human Rights act does not have antidiscrimination policies in those areas. Talks regarding rule-making should begin in early 2011, after the gubernatorial election and after a new administration is in place, according to Patricia Ryan, the executive director of the Human Rights Commission.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; US: Maine
KEYWORDS: arth; homosexualagenda; maine; moralabsolutes
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-59 last
To: markomalley

The girls at my school would have simply thrown “his” @$$ out if “he” tried to come in.


41 posted on 09/22/2010 1:27:41 PM PDT by Fast Moving Angel (We'll remember in November!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tired of Taxes

She’s one of the few Christians left in the Republican Party apparently.


42 posted on 09/22/2010 1:35:53 PM PDT by truthfreedom
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: JenB

It’s another reason to vote for LePage if you live in Maine.

This “board” is appointed by the Governor. There hasn’t been a Republican Governor in Maine in 16 years.


43 posted on 09/22/2010 1:37:57 PM PDT by truthfreedom
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: NonValueAdded

“Her” is not a “Her”. When one has a penis and testicles they are a MALE!!!!!


44 posted on 09/22/2010 1:41:33 PM PDT by POWERSBOOTHEFAN (Blessed Be The Name Of The Lord,For His Name Alone Is Exaulted)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: POWERSBOOTHEFAN

I know that, hence the quote marks.


45 posted on 09/22/2010 1:51:24 PM PDT by NonValueAdded ("It's amazing, A man who has such large ears could be so tone deaf" Rush Limbaugh 9/8/10)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: NonValueAdded

I was aiming that at the morons involved with this issue.They need to quit calling him a “her”.


46 posted on 09/22/2010 1:56:58 PM PDT by POWERSBOOTHEFAN (Blessed Be The Name Of The Lord,For His Name Alone Is Exaulted)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: wideawake

Ever see They Might Be Giants? It’s a movie where George C. Scott lives as Sherlock Holmes in NYC. It’s tag line is “who’s reality is right”. The title comes from Don Quixote, who tilted at windmills because “they might be giants”. Well they weren’t bleeping giants and Quixote was crazy. Next up will students with Ethnic Identity Disorder demand to use the Colored Only Bath Room?


47 posted on 09/22/2010 1:59:19 PM PDT by massgopguy (I owe everything to George Bailey)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: markomalley
Orono Middle School
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Does anyone know where this school is located? I am willing to bet it is in a middle to upper class area and would be considered a “good” government school.

Have Freepers noticed? Most of these school outrage stories are in schools that would be considered to be “good” schools in “good” areas.

So?....With outrageous school stories **every** day ( usually several different articles involving multiple government schools ), why would any idiot of a parent think that their child's government school is somehow different?

48 posted on 09/22/2010 2:17:56 PM PDT by wintertime (Good ideas win! Why? Because people are not stupid.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mr Rogers

The conservatives of Maine are fighting the liberals here in Maine just like everywhere else.

Paul LePage, a good, solid, tea party conservative Republican, is running for Governor and is up by 10-15 in the polls.


49 posted on 09/22/2010 2:31:52 PM PDT by truthfreedom
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: wintertime

Orono is a suburb of Bangor. Bangor is the 2nd largest city in Maine. Orono is where the University of Maine is.


50 posted on 09/22/2010 2:32:59 PM PDT by truthfreedom
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 48 | View Replies]

.


51 posted on 09/22/2010 2:53:28 PM PDT by kimmie7 (THE CROSS - Today, Tomorrow and Always!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: markomalley

born with a penis you’re a man or boy it is that simple

the parents , where the hell are they in this?


52 posted on 09/22/2010 6:17:10 PM PDT by manc (He goes to church and now this biased media says look he's a Christian.Biased media =joke)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Eagles6

NAIL ON HEAD

The parents , WTF

I have kids and my oldest is in middle school and there is no way he would ever think about being a woman.

This is total B/S and sick


53 posted on 09/22/2010 6:21:12 PM PDT by manc (He goes to church and now this biased media says look he's a Christian.Biased media =joke)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: cherry

I’m not not old and even when I went to school the kids would not think this is normal

WTH is going on with kids and parents today?


54 posted on 09/22/2010 6:23:19 PM PDT by manc (He goes to church and now this biased media says look he's a Christian.Biased media =joke)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Fast Moving Angel

EXACTLY


55 posted on 09/22/2010 6:27:35 PM PDT by manc (He goes to church and now this biased media says look he's a Christian.Biased media =joke)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: manc
If a boy is having "gender identity issues" there are probably other issues going on, i.e., friends, friend's parents, someone molesting the kid, teachers...You don't "treat" a child by going along with "I'm a girl". You remove him from the sick environment and send him to counseling.

What do you do if he thinks he's a dog? Let him hump your leg and pee on your foot?

56 posted on 09/22/2010 6:29:00 PM PDT by Eagles6 ( Typical White Guy: Christian, Constitutionalist, Heterosexual, Redneck.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]

To: markomalley

Don’t they need to make him a true transgender by snipping off some parts before they will let him use the facilities?


57 posted on 09/22/2010 11:04:35 PM PDT by kaehurowing
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: markomalley

I’d like to smack the parents who let their son decide that he’s a girl at such a young age. Good grief, most kids have a little confusion. You don’t aid and abet it; you correct it. My pre-K sons and I were looking for pajamas today, and one of them told me he wanted ballerina pajamas. (Both my boys like dance.) Did I say, okay honey, whatever? Sorry, no, this non-politically correct mommy informed him that boys do not grow up to be ballerinas. They can be dancers if they want to, but only girls grow up to be ballerinas, and therefore I wasn’t going to be buying him ballerina pj’s. (Which they didn’t have anyway.) Did he go into a decline? No, he forgot about it in about a mintue and went with the helicopter/airplane pj’s.

Good grief.


58 posted on 09/22/2010 11:28:03 PM PDT by Hetty_Fauxvert (March 2010: Congress shoved Obamacare down our throats. November 2010: We will shove it back!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GeronL; fieldmarshaldj; GOPsterinMA; Perdogg; Clintonfatigued

Ick.


59 posted on 09/23/2010 3:06:20 AM PDT by Impy (Don't call me red.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-59 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson