Maine Schools Battle Transgender Teen Over Bathroom Rights

A transgender teenager from Maine is fighting for the right to use the bathroom, and it is now up to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court to determine whether that will be a facility for little boys or little girls.

Earlier this week, Nicole Maines testified before a court of law that ever since she was in the fifth grade, she has been using the girls’ restroom in school. However, after the school received some complaints from confused parents, she was strictly prohibited from using the girls’ facility and forced to use the staff bathroom instead.

Yet, because of the school’s solution to Nicole’s restroom conundrum, she testified that she became the victim of more bullying and was completely ostracized by her peers. Now, at 15-years-old, Nicole intends to undergo a sex change that will properly define her gender, and wants the right to utilize the women’s restroom.

The Maine Human Rights Commission argues that Nicole was discriminated on based on sex, but the school says that a person’s genitals should dictate what restroom facilities they use.