Amber Lavigne

As mother-of-three Amber Lavigne prepped her 13-year-old daughter’s room for a painting project, the last thing she expected to find was a breast binder. But there it was – and her daughter told her it came from a social worker at her public school in Maine. 

She was gobsmacked. 

Her daughter had been struggling with mental health and meeting with a female social worker at school. “As far as I knew, they talked about anxiety, normal kid stuff,” Amber said. “I own a mental health agency, so I thought it was nice they had social workers in the schools to support kids.” 

Little did Amber know that at the beginning of eighth grade, the Great Salt Bay Community School had re-assigned her daughter to a different social worker. This one was 26 years old, transgender, and only had a conditional license to practice social work. 

The school never told Amber about the switch and the social worker didn’t bother reaching out to the preteen’s therapist for additional context. He began her social transition in secret. 

First, the school started referring to Amber’s daughter using male pronouns and a male name. Then they did the unthinkable – they provided the preteen with equipment that could cause physical pain and permanent changes to her body. 

“The school won’t give me the records, but from what I can gather, he met with her for two, 30-minute sessions and once for a check-in. At some point during one of those three meetings, he gave her two breast binders.”

The school will not disclose how they measured Amber’s daughter for size, and to what degree any physical contact between the male social worker and the young girl took place. 

When Amber raised her concerns, the principal and superintendent sided with the social worker. The school board dismissed her with a “thank you for your comments.” The nightmare continued when child services agents showed up at her door to investigate allegations of emotional abuse. Incidentally, they showed up about a week after Amber had filed complaints on both of the social workers’ licenses.  

Amber filed a federal lawsuit with the help of the Goldwater Institute. The story went viral and when the school began receiving threats, the district wrote to parents implying Amber was to blame. 

“I am a Democrat living in a very progressive town, so at first it was very hard to go out of the house, even just filling up the car with gas. I was treated poorly at some of my favorite stores, so I stopped going. I’d try to leave town to go grocery shopping. It just felt like I had this spotlight on me that was really negative for a long time. I connected with January Littlejohn of Do No Harm within days of going public with this, and she sat on the phone with me for the better part of two hours, just listening to me sob and giving me support. I really needed to hear from a momma who had been through it.”

Amber’s lawsuit is currently being heard by the First Circuit Court of Appeals, where the attorneys general of 12 states have all filed briefs supporting her constitutional rights. In the meantime, she frequently travels to the Maine State House to advocate for parental rights. 

We are in awe of Amber’s unwavering resolve to hold schools accountable and to protect children from gender ideology. If you are a parent in a similar situation, know this: you are not alone. You have every right to know what happens to your kids at school, and Do No Harm is here to help you get answers.