Last month, MCV’s Climate and Clean Energy Director, Lucy Hochschartner testified in opposition to the raft of bills before the Maine legislature that seek to limit the rights and freedom of transgender youth in Maine. Make no mistake: the aim of these bills is to deny children in our state access to basic services and rights, like healthcare, legal recognition, facilities, and more.
Transgender students, and adults, are part of our schools and our communities. Just like everyone else they go to school to learn and prepare for their future and deserve the same opportunity to fully participate and succeed in school without fear of harassment or discrimination. This means using the restroom that matches the gender they live every day, getting the same opportunity to participate in school athletics, and having access to the healthcare and basic services we all need to thrive.
Testimony in Opposition to LD 233, LD 380, LD 868, LD 1002, LD 1134, LD 1337, LD 1432, and LD 1704
Senator Carney, Representative Kuhn, and Honorable Members of the Judiciary Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Lucy Hochschartner, and I am the Climate and Clean Energy Director with Maine Conservation Voters (MCV). MCV represents over 14,000 members and supporters who are building a just, thriving future for all by acting on the climate crisis, protecting the environment, and safeguarding our democracy. l am also a former elite athlete here to testify in opposition to LD 233, LD 380, LD 868, LD 1002, LD 1134, LD 1337, LD 1432, and LD 1704.
You may be wondering, why would MCV care about these bills? It’s not often that we testify in front of the Judiciary Committee. The answer is that we know that in order to protect our environment, we must protect our democracy. And, we know that to protect our democracy, we must not allow our state to be bullied into submission. That is not how democracies work. The federal administration is already targeting states for a number of other issues, including climate policy. In this moment, to protect the air we breathe, the water we drink, the votes we cast, and all of the people who depend on these systems, we need unprecedented solidarity. It will not be easy, but l am asking this committee to be brave. Hold the line; don’t give in. ln many ways, for our environment and our democracy. That is more important than the policies themselves.
We should get to the policies too, though. Before I was ever a Climate and Clean Energy Director, I was just a girl in school. And, then l was a girl in sport. It is easy to forget that Title IX is quite new. Not only were my grandmothers born before its enactment, but so was my mom! I am the first woman in my family who has always had the right to play sports in school, and not only did l do that, but I succeeded at every level. I went from youth learn-to-ski practices, to becoming a Junior National All-American, to racing at NCAA Championships, to competing internationally for Team USA. Being able to go to school and play sports, free of harassment, has truly been the greatest gift I have ever received. I am a cisgender woman, or supposedly, the kind of person these bills are supposed to protect. I can tell you, without a doubt, that they do not do that.
First, participation in sports is far more important than winning, particularly in school. The American Medical Association calls violence against transgender people an “epidemic,” and rates of suicide are far higher for transgender and non-binary youth than cisgender youth. At the same time, we know that sport changes lives. Participation in sports has physical benefits, like a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, academic benefits, like higher high school graduation rates and college attendance, and psychological benefits, like improved self-esteem and sense of well-being. Everyone deserves that opportunity.
Second, questions of advantage are not nearly as clear as fearmongers would like you to believe. All sports have some genetic factor that improves performance. Are we going to ban tall basketball players next? It is easy to see that trans athletes are not causing problems, as we already have amazing transgender women and girls competing everywhere from high school, to college, to Olympic Trials, and cisgender women like me still have opportunities to thrive.
Above all, though, it is worth remembering what my actual problems were in school and sport. By the time I was 15, adults were already talking about my body and what a shame it would be if l hit puberty and slowed down. When l was 16, my teammate was doing planks with weights on her back because she thought she had a muffin top. By 17, my friends were doing secret workouts at night if they raced poorly. At 18, I got my wisdom teeth out, and all I could think was how exciting it would be to take two days off in a row for the first time in years. When I was 19, I struggled to help a friend whose eating disorder was so severe that she was sent to the hospital to have her heart checked, and yet all she wanted to talk to me about was training more. At 20, I woke up so sick I was coughing up blood; I raced anyway.
I’m 27 years old now, and I have more stories like these than years. Legislation like this and the debate around it, even the bills before you that are not directly about sports, don’t fix these very real problems. In fact, they make them worse. Girls are facing serious long-term medical and physical harm because we are valued for our bodies, for our results. The only way to solve these problems is to understand that we are whole people. All of the bills before you are dehumanizing, plain and simple. And of
course, they will harm trans people. But I promise you, they will harm us all.
Sincerely,
Lucy Hochshartner
