It was a day like any other for Maine mom Amber Lavigne, until she stumbled across something in her 13-year-old daughter’s bedroom that would change the course of their lives: a chest binder, which is used to flatten the wearer’s chest to create a more masculine appearance. When Amber spoke with her daughter about this, she learned that a male social worker at the Great Salt Bay Community School had given this chest binder to her child in his office, instructed her on how to use it, gave her advice about "changing" her gender, and told the student she didn’t need to tell her parents about any of it.
As Amber dug deeper, she uncovered an even more troubling truth: it wasn’t just one person at the school keeping things from her. School officials had been referring to her daughter by a different name and using different pronouns — effectively pushing her into a "social transition" without Amber's knowledge.
So, it came as no surprise last week when the U.S. Department of Education launched an investigation into the Maine Department of Education over the decision of Maine schools to hide information about gender transitions from ...
