Why This Transgender Teen's Big Victory Matters. Wayne Maines was in a meeting when he got the call.
His daughter, a transgender teenager who had been fighting the state of Maine for years over her right to use the girls' bathroom at school, had finally won. “I just broke down right then and there,” he said. In tears, he called his wife, who texted their daughter, Nicole. She was in a school assembly, and immediately ran to the front of the room to announce the victory. “The whole school got up and cheered,” he recounted. On Thursday, Maine’s Supreme Court made history when it ruled that officials from the public school violated state anti-discrimination law by not allowing Nicole to use the girls' bathroom. The case stemmed from an incident that occurred when Nicole was in fifth grade. Born a biological male, Nicole was identifying as a female at the age of 2.
But that all changed after a male student followed her into the girls' bathroom on multiple occasions, charging that if she had the right to be in there, so did he. Transgender Teen Awarded $75,000 in School Restroom Lawsuit. A court in Maine awarded the family of a transgender teenager $75,000 in a discrimination lawsuit against a school district that forced the student to use a staff restroom rather than a facility reserved for pupils, reports the Associated Press.
Nicole Maines, 17, had won her lawsuit against the Orono school district earlier this year in front of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, which ruled that the school district had violated the state’s Human Rights Act. The case marked the first time a state’s highest court ruled that a transgender person has the right to use the restroom of the gender with which they identify. In the wake of the court’s decision, a lower court awarded the financial settlement to the Maines family and the activist organization, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defender, on Nov. 25. In accordance with the order, the Orono school district is prohibited from refusing transgender students access “to school restrooms that are consistent with their gender identity.” Effects. Global climate change has already had observable effects on the environment.
Glaciers have shrunk, ice on rivers and lakes is breaking up earlier, plant and animal ranges have shifted and trees are flowering sooner. Effects that scientists had predicted in the past would result from global climate change are now occurring: loss of sea ice, accelerated sea level rise and longer, more intense heat waves. Taken as a whole, the range of published evidence indicates that the net damage costs of climate change are likely to be significant and to increase over time. Scientists have high confidence that global temperatures will continue to rise for decades to come, largely due to greenhouse gases produced by human activities. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which includes more than 1,300 scientists from the United States and other countries, forecasts a temperature rise of 2.5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the next century.
Future effects Temperatures will continue to rise. Climate Change Impacts & Threats. Polar Bears and Climate Change. Floods.
Droughts. Heat waves. Massive storms. Climate change is not just about polar bears, the iconic symbol of a melting Arctic. It affects the entire planet. In fact, if our chief scientist, Dr. "Events like these will continue to increase in number and severity as the world continues to warm. " What's causing climate change? What's causing climate change? Greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere act like a blanket that keeps the earth warm. Other factors such as deforestation have added to the problem. Do scientists agree about climate change? The laws of physics dictate that the world will grow warmer and warmer as greenhouse gas concentrations rise. Are scientists still debating climate change? The important point to remember is that natural fluctuations in the climate system will continue with global warming, but the baseline will climb higher and higher. And once we cross those thresholds, it will be bad news not only for polar bears—but countless other species, including humans.
Rachel Parent, GMOs, food labeling. Teen Activists and Issues.