I’ve taught high school in New England for nearly 30 years. But long before that, I was a teenager watching my best friend struggle in a world where she didn’t feel she belonged. I’m grateful every day she made it through, as today she’s an education leader who has saved more lives than she knows.

In the last three decades I’ve sat with young people as they tried to figure out how to survive in a world that demonizes them for who they are. I’ve been with them at school, at home, in the hospital … and at gravesides. Too many tried to take their lives; too many succeeded.

That’s why I’m speaking out against the anti-trans bills currently before our Legislature. These proposals aim to restrict medically necessary care, erase identities and punish those who offer support. They put lives at risk purporting to solve problems that don’t actually exist.

According to The Trevor Project, over half of trans and nonbinary youth seriously considered suicide last year. Those with access to affirming care and environments fared far better. And every major medical association in the U.S. supports gender-affirming care, not because it’s political, but because it saves lives.

These bills don’t “protect Maine families,” they threaten them. We all want our children to grow up safe, healthy and loved. That means rejecting fear and choosing compassion. It means rejecting these bills and the codified cruelty they represent.

Leigh Perkins
Southport