Our Current Agenda

Augusta

The 2023 legislative session is underway, and we're hard at work! Read more about our previous wins here, and learn about some of our current priority bills below:

LD 2 - An Act to Address Maine's Housing Crisis - SUPPORT
This bill proposes to amend the laws to address Maine's housing crisis.
EqualityMaine supports this bill, the goal of which is to end long-term, chronic homelessness in our state.

LD 34 - An Act to Require a Person to Show Photographic Identification for the Purpose of Voting - OPPOSE
This bill requires voters to present a photo ID when voting or to request a special voter ID from the state.
EqualityMaine opposes this bill and any barriers to voting. Voter ID laws are a form of voter suppression and keep eligible voters from being able to actively participate in our political process.

LD 78 and 578 - RESOLUTION, Proposing an Amendment to Article X of the Constitution of Maine Regarding the Publication of Maine Indian Treaty Obligations and RESOLUTION, Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine Concerning the Publication of Maine Indian Treaty Obligations - SUPPORT
This resolution proposes an amendment to the Constitution of Maine to require that the text of Article X, Section 5 of the Constitution, which pertains to Maine Indian treaty obligations, be included in any printed copies of the Constitution included with the laws of the State.
EqualityMaine supports this legislation, which would ensure that whoever reads the Maine constitution is able to read the full constitution, including Maine’s treaty obligations to Wabanaki nations.

LD 123 - An Act to Eliminate the Educational Purposes Exception to the Prohibition on the Dissemination of Obscene Matter to Minors - OPPOSE

LD 140 - An Act To Provide the Right to Counsel for Juveniles and Improve Due Process for Juveniles - OPPOSE

LD 199 - An Act to Improve the Health of Maine Residents by Removing Exclusions to the MaineCare Program - SUPPORT

LD 279 - An Act to Protect Against Discrimination by Public Entities - SUPPORT
This bill creates a new section in the Maine Human Rights Act that states it is unlawful discrimination for a public entity to discriminate against an individual, exclude an individual from participation in a service, program or activity of that public entity or otherwise deny to an individual the benefits of a service, program or activity of that public entity by reason of the individual's race or color, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, age, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry or national origin.
EqualityMaine supports this bill, which would prohibit prejudicial treatment in all spaces, including in jails and prisons.

LD 394 - Resolve, Regarding Legislative Review of Chapter 117: Rule Regarding the Duties of School Counselors and School Social Workers, a Major Substantive Rule of the Department of Education - SUPPORT

LD 489 - An Act to Provide Equal Educational Opportunity by Adopting Rules Ensuring Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Protected Class Status in Educational Institutions - SUPPORT
This bill requires the Department of Education to review the Maine Human Rights Act every 10 years.
EqualityMaine supports this bill, which would ensure that policies keep pace with civil rights progress.

LD 515 - An Act to Require School Board Approval of Superintendent Rules and Administrative Procedures - OPPOSE
This bill requires school superintendents to establish administrative procedures or rules to implement school board policies. The administrative procedures or rules may not become effective without the approval of the school board.
EqualityMaine opposes this bill because it is a device to keep school policies from going into effect and to essentially erode one of the few administrative protections LGBTQ+ students have.

LD 535 - An Act to Increase Access to Necessary Medical Care for Certain Minors - SUPPORT

LD 618 - An Act to Eliminate Critical Race Theory, Social and Emotional Learning and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion from School Curricula - OPPOSE

LD 678 - An Act to Require Parental Approval for Public School Employees to Use a Name or Pronoun Other than a Child's Given Name or Pronoun Corresponding to the Gender on the Child's Birth Certificate - OPPOSE

LD 707 - An Act to Update the Maine Human Rights Act with Respect to Gender Identity - SUPPORT
This bill removes gender identity from the definition of sexual orientation in the Maine Human Rights Act (without threatening the protection of gender minorities as gender identity is already a stand-alone category).
EqualityMaine supports this bill because who we are is different from whom we love.

LD 776 - RESOLUTION, Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine to Establish the Right to Bodily Autonomy - SUPPORT

LD 794 - An Act to Expand the Membership of the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women - SUPPORT
This bill expands the membership to include an LGBTQ+ representative and a youth representative, and also adds funding for staffing.
EqualityMaine supports this bill as it ensures that the unique lived experiences of LGBTQ+ women are represented within the Commission.

LD 930 - An Act to Allow Only Students of Female Gender to Participate in Women's and Girls' Scholastic Sports - OPPOSE

LD 942 - An Act to Ensure the Collection of Complete Information by Adding a 3rd Option for Gender on State Forms - SUPPORT
This bill would add a gender marker option of X throughout state agency forms.
EqualityMaine supports this bill, which would extend the right to accurately self-represent to everyone, and throughout all state documents and forms.

LD 956 - An Act Concerning Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Data Collection in Health Care Facilities - SUPPORT
This bill requires health care facilities to collect data related to sexual orientation and gender identity from an individual as part of the individual's health care information.
EqualityMaine supports this bill because having accurate data about the LGBTQ+ community pertaining to our health helps provide accurate and scientific information about health trends and can point out barriers our community faces.

LD 1008 - An Act to Establish a Rating System for Books in School Libraries - OPPOSE

LD 1040 - An Act to Require Reimbursement for Gender-affirming Care for MaineCare Members - SUPPORT
This bill prohibits the MaineCare program from discriminating in its reimbursement for medically necessary treatment on the basis of a MaineCare member's gender identity or gender expression, or on the basis that the MaineCare member is a transgender individual, and requires that the program cover medically necessary treatment for or related to gender dysphoria.
EqualityMaine supports this bill because everyone deserves access to medically-necessary care.

LD 1102 - An Act to Authorize a Recall Election for a School Board Member - OPPOSE

LD 1129 - An Act to Enact the Curriculum Transparency Act - OPPOSE

LD 1181 - An Act to Allow for the Recall of an Elected Municipal Official for Any Reason - OPPOSE

LD 1196 - An Act to Require Public Schools to Allow Parents and Guardians to Opt Out Their Children with Respect to Portions of the Curriculum - OPPOSE

LD 1199 - An Act to Provide Transparency in Public School Curricula - OPPOSE

LD 1215 - An Act to End the Sale of Flavored Tobacco Products - SUPPORT
This bill prohibits the sale and distribution of flavored tobacco products, including flavored cigars and electronic smoking devices.
EqualityMaine supports this bill, which protects the health and wellbeing of Mainers. LGBTQ+ people suffer disproportionately from diseases caused by smoking, and young people overwhelmingly use flavored tobacco products; ending the sale of flavored tobacco products is therefore a crucial step to ensure the next generation of LGBTQ+ Mainers does not suffer the long term health impacts of tobacco use.

LD 1410 - An Act to Hold School Employees Civilly Liable for Failure to Notify Parents Regarding Medical Issues of Students Under 18 Years of Age - OPPOSE

LD 1412 - RESOLUTION, Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine Establishing That All Maine Residents Have Equal Rights Under the Law - SUPPORT
This resolution proposes to amend the Constitution of Maine to prohibit the denial or abridgment by the State or any political subdivision of the State of equal rights based on the actual or perceived race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, physical or mental disability, ancestry or national origin of an individual.
EqualityMaine supports this bill because an expanded ERA ensures more protections based on all the categories that experience structural forms of discrimination.

LD 1435 - An Act to Reduce Commercial Sexual Exploitation - OPPOSE
This bill makes several changes, including eliminating the crime of engaging in prostitution and replacing the terms "engage a prostitute" and "prostitution" with "commercial sexual exploitation".
EqualityMaine opposes this bill because sexual exploitation and sex work are not the same thing, and comprehensive decriminalization of sex work advances equality for the LGBTQ+ community.

LD 1436 - An Act to Provide Remedies for Survivors of Commercial Sexual Exploitation - SUPPORT
This bill eliminates the crime of engaging in prostitution, and provides for the sealing of a person's criminal history record for the former crime of engaging in prostitution. It establishes a stakeholder group within DHHS to identify funds that may be able to be used to provide services to those persons who experienced violence associated with commercial sexual exploitation and to report that information to the Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety.
EqualityMaine supports this bill as the vast majority of people engaged in commercial sex are people of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community, especially trans people. Trans women, particularly those of color, are more likely to be arrested on sex work charges than any other demographic. The criminalization of sex work causes disportionate harm to marginalized communities.

LD 1507 - An Act to Ensure the Accuracy of Vital Records with Respect to Gender - SUPPORT
Directs the State Registrar of Vital Statistics to amend a marriage certificate to reflect a change of gender and to provide a new sex identifier when the state registrar receives an appropriate application, which must include a gender field that includes options for male, female, and X; and 2. Provides that a certificate of death must include a gender field that includes options for male, female, and X.
EqualityMaine supports this bill as it would affirm Mainers through the developments of their lives and respect who they really were upon and after their deaths. 

LD 1518 - An Act Regarding the Rights of Parents to Withdraw Their Children from Public School Classes or Activities That Include Certain Controversial Viewpoints - OPPOSE

LD 1522 - An Act to Provide Economic Justice to Historically Disadvantaged Older Citizens by Amending the Laws Governing the Medicare Savings Program - SUPPORT
This bill makes 3 changes to the Medicare savings program: 1. It removes the asset test. 2. It changes the income eligibility methodology by setting the federal poverty level at income levels established using the Elder Economic Security Standard Index. 3. It eliminates the specified low-income Medicare beneficiary as a category.
EqualityMaine supports this bill in its endeavor to seek economic justice for older Mainers who have experienced a lifetime of discrimination and bias.

LD 1589 - Resolve, Directing the Department of Education to Adopt Rules Prohibiting Teachers in Public Schools from Engaging in Political, Ideological and Religious Advocacy in the Classroom - OPPOSE

LD 1613 - An Act to Prohibit Profiling and to Strengthen Civil Rights in Maine - SUPPORT

LD 1619 - An Act to Improve Maine's Reproductive Privacy Laws - SUPPORT

LD 1705 - An Act to Give Consumers Control over Sensitive Personal Data by Requiring Consumer Consent Prior to Collection of Data - SUPPORT

LD 1735 - An Act to Safeguard Gender-affirming Health Care - SUPPORT

LD 1736 - An Act to Advance the National HIV/AIDS Strategy in Maine by Broadening HIV Testing - SUPPORT

LD 1779 - An Act to Develop a Continuum of Care for Youth Involved in the Justice System and to Develop Alternatives for Juveniles Incarcerated in Long Creek Youth Development Center - SUPPORT

LD 1800 - An Act Regarding Parental Rights in Education - OPPOSE

LD 1809 - An Act to Prohibit Health Care Services Without Parental Consent - OPPOSE

LD 1906 - An Act to Enable Confirmatory Adoption - SUPPORT

LD 1953 - RESOLUTION, Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine to Establish a Parental Bill of Rights - OPPOSE

D.C.

H.R. 5 - "Politics Over Parents Act" - OPPOSE
This bill, the so-called “Parents Bill of Rights," would require schools to forcibly out transgender students, even if it puts those youth in harm’s way​. This measure was passed by the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce on March 9, 2023.
EqualityMaine opposes this dangerous bill that targets LGBTQ+ youth and does not address the needs of students, schools, or parents.

H.R. 734 - "Politics Over Participation Act" - OPPOSE
This bill, the so-called "Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023," amends existing law to make it a violation of Title IX for recipients of federal financial assistance to allow transgender girls or women to participate in girls’ and women’s athletic programs. The House passed the bill on April 20, 2023.
EqualityMaine opposes this bill, which is a discriminatory attack on trans people.

Proposed regulation - Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance: Sex-Related Eligibility Criteria for Male and Female Athletic Teams
The U.S. Department of Education is proposing to amend its regulations implementing Title IX. Schools wouldn’t be able to categorically ban transgender students from joining athletic teams consistent with their gender identity, but they would still be able to limit transgender athletes’ participation in sports under some circumstances, such as in highly competitive sports at the high school or collegiate levels.
The public has 32 days commencing April 13, 2023 to comment on the rules.
Proposed rule
Make a public comment