Transgender support groups in Maine see spike in contacts after election

Transgender support groups in Maine said they are seeing a spike in contacts similar to those reported by national LGBTQ+ groups since Donald Trump’s election last week.

Bre Danvers-Kidman with the Maine Trans Net said about 100 people came to the group’s post-election support event and that many others have reached out through various platforms in the week since.

Some have expressed fears about losing their gender affirming care, the potential roll back of Title IV protections and a rise in harmful rhetoric.

Danvers-Kidman said that though there is valid concern about federal funding for care being rolled back, Maine has its own protections in place.

“We have the good laws here, we have the infrastructure to fight those battles with. And so to the extent that those battles rear their heads, Maine is going to be a place where I feel like we can fight them and we can win,” Danvers-Kidman said.

They expressed confidence that the “good laws” in Maine would remain, even if policy changed at a federal level.

“If the state offers greater protection to citizens than the federal government, the state wins. And so those greater protections that Maine offers to trans people, those will hold. I expect those to hold,” Danvers-Kidman said.

The Trevor Project, a national suicide prevention organization for LGBTQ+ youth, reported a 700% increase in crisis contacts the day after the election.