The ACLU of Maine, EqualityMaine, and GLAD Law have released a comprehensive guide ranging from LGBTQ+ and immigrant students’ rights to staff free speech and student protest.
Civil rights advocates are urging students, parents, and school officials to know their rights as Mainers head back to school. The educational toolkit, “Know Your Rights: Back to School,” was created with resources from the ACLU of Maine, EqualityMaine, and GLAD Law.
The Constitution applies everywhere, including at school, and inclusive policies create better learning environments for all students. It is crucial that school leaders respect their students’ and employees’ rights. Students, parents, faculty, and staff must know their rights so they can exercise those rights and ensure every student is treated fairly and equally.
The resources cover a variety of issues in public schools:
- Guidance for families, students, teachers, and staff to protect the rights of immigrant students
- The rights of pregnant students, students with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ students
- Gender-inclusive participation in sports, facility use, and names and pronouns
- Student free speech, protests, and walkouts
- Students’ rights when interacting with school resource officers or other law enforcement
- Access to books and other information
- Faculty and staff free speech
Know Your Rights: Back to School
“As the Supreme Court ruled in 1969, students do not ‘shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate,’” said ACLU of Maine Legal Director Carol Garvan. “Several areas of law are changing rapidly, and it’s crucial that Maine students, parents, faculty, and staff know their rights. Throughout the country and right here in Maine, politicians, school boards, and others have made clear their commitment to banning books, censoring classroom discussions, and curtailing other constitutional rights. These efforts undermine a central purpose of our education system: to expose students to a diversity of ideas and prepare them to live in our multicultural democracy.”
“Despite the overreach by the federal government recently, the Maine Human Rights Act is still the law in Maine, which aims to protect LGBTQ+ students from discrimination in schools. Every student has the right to a safe learning environment,” said Gia Drew, executive director of EqualityMaine and former high school teacher. “Whether you’re a parent, teacher or community member, we all know that young people thrive when they are seen, loved and supported. Kids need to feel included and welcome at school in order to succeed, not only as students, but as adults. LGBTQ+ youth, including transgender youth, need and deserve to feel supported and cared for."
“Maine has worked hard to create and maintain public schools that are safe, supportive, and inclusive of all students – including LGBTQ youth and other groups that have historically been marginalized. Mainers know that students learn best when they’re treated respectfully, have equitable access to extracurricular resources and activities, and have age-appropriate exposure to the diversity of ideas, subjects, and skills needed for their future success,” said Hannah Hussey, GLAD Law Staff Attorney. “But as our schools re-open amid a campaign by extremist politicians to broadly exclude vulnerable groups of students—including LGBTQ youth, young women, people of color, students with disabilities, and immigrant students—with reductive policies that strip important protections from them or dictate what students can be taught, we’re here to remind families, students, and educators that you can take action to protect your rights.”
