ME: Parents’ Rights Group Opposes Data Collection Results

A parents’ rights group in Maine objects to the collection and dissemination of statistics about transgender youth.

by Evan Urquhart

A parents’ rights organization in Maine is urging Maine parents not to let their children take a youth health survey because they don’t like that the last version of the survey showed that transgender youth were present in Maine. The far right group Courage is a Habit wants parents to refuse the survey because LGBTQ+ organizations have used the data on transgender youth to advocate for policies that would help them thrive. Here’s quote from Alvin Lui, president of Courage is a Habit:

While Lui mentions “manipulated data” there’s no suggestion, or evidence, that the results of the survey weren’t accurately recorded by public health researchers. Rather, it seems the act of asking the question and recording the answers is what Lui is so strenuously objecting to. Lui’s problem isn’t with the data, it’s with people knowing that trans youth exist and using evidence to advocate on their behalf.