This month, Governor Janet Mills signed into law a series of bills to protect LGBTQ+ Mainers and the LGBTQ+ community celebrated the new laws, especially LD 1900, a bill to protect trans Mainers from being forced to publicly out themselves when they legally change their name.
Governor Mills’ steadfast support for Maine’s LGBTQ+ community comes as Republicans around the country are escalating attacks on gay and trans people, and as she faces a challenge on the ballot from the virulently anti-LGBTQ+ former governor Paul LePage. When LePage was in office, he repeatedly attacked LGBTQ+ Mainers by:
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Vetoing legislation to ban conversion therapy, a cruel practice that attempts to force children to change their sexual orientation or gender identity and that has been proven to harm LGBTQ+ youth (Governor Mills has since signed this legislation into law)
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Joining multiple lawsuits to deny LGBTQ+ Americans their constitutional anti-discrimination rights
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Opposing the voter-approved legalization of same-sex marriage
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Portraying homosexuality in negative terms (and receiving praise from anti-gay organizations for it)
Now that LePage is back on the ballot, those same anti-gay organizations are fully behind him, and are actively advocating for him to join the national tide of Republicans passing hateful anti-LGBTQ+ legislation if he’s re-elected.
“As so many states are escalating their attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, it is heartening to see our Governor bravely stand up on our behalf,” said Bev Uhlenhake, Vice Chair of the Maine Democratic Party. “But make no mistake—if Paul LePage is re-elected, the rights and safety of LGBTQ+ Mainers will once again be at risk. We cannot allow LePage to bring his hateful policies back to the Blaine House.”
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