In advance of the November election, where Massachusetts voters will be asked whether legal protections that were passed into law in 2016 for transgender individuals should be maintained, this panel discussion will explore the unique challenges facing transgender individuals, their families, and caregivers. The transgender rights advocates on our panel will offer the opportunity for our community to ask honest questions about gender identity in a safe and welcoming space, while hearing personal stories of courage and transformation. We will have lawn signs, pledge cards, and literature available, all supporting ballot question 3.

About our Panelists

Mimi Lemay is the proud parent of a transgender son. She began her advocacy for transgender youth shortly after the family transitioned, writing a blog post about the experience in A Letter to my Son Jacob on His 5th Birthday. The Lemay family, oldest to youngest, have since taken their story public, advocating for transgender equality and lobbying for the passage of Massachusetts’ equal access public accommodations law. Mimi is writing a memoir which weaves her own experiences growing up in, and ultimately leaving, her strict Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, and her adult life parenting a trans child. Mimi and her husband are proud members of the Parent Council for Transgender Equality at the Human Rights Campaign in Washington, DC. She holds a BA from Boston University and a Masters in Law & Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Clayton Lightfoot is an MSW candidate at Boston College where they co-lead the School of Social Work’s LGBTQ+ Student Collective. They are working to register voters and canvass on behalf of the upcoming ballot initiative. Clayton is also actively involved in peer support work within the queer and trans community, specifically focusing on substance misuse. They have experience working at a suicide/crisis hotline, as well as in residential settings with individuals living with chronic mental health challenges. They are currently completing their final year’s placement at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School.

Brooke Stott is a member of the Coalition Team with Freedom For All Massachusetts, where she works to educate small business and community leaders about the upcoming ballot initiative and its potential impact on transgender individuals, their families, and communities across Massachusetts. Brooke also works as a Transgender Health Navigator for Fenway Health and AIDS Action Committee, where she provides HIV/STI screening, assistance in navigating legal name change and transgender healthcare, and works with the TransCEND program providing resources to disadvantaged trans women of color in the Boston Area. Additionally, Brooke helps in facilitating peer-support groups for LGBTQI+ adolescents with OUT MetroWest’s WAGLY program.

The Winchester Multicultural Network is proud to co-sponsor this event with the League of Women Voters Winchester.