A group of Democrat Maine legislators, headed by Rep. Cheryl Golek (D-Harpswell), introduced a bill on Thursday that would require Maine students to take LGBTQ Studies in order to pass through the public school system.

Golek’s bill, LD 1482, drew strong support from her party, bringing in nine co-sponsors, including Rep. Nina Milliken (D-Blue Hill) and Sen. Rachel Talbot Ross (D-Cumberland).

As introduced, the bill inserts new language into existing education statutes, mandating LGBTQ+ studies alongside already mandated Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)-inspired courses, such as African American studies, the history of genocide, and Wabanaki studies.

LGBTQ+ studies would be included in both the American history requirement and the Maine studies course, requiring students to learn about LGBTQ+ history across the nation as well as at the state level.

The bill defines LGBTQ+ to include “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and other allied communities.” The consciously woke legislation does not specify what the classes must include.

The Legislature’s Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs will consider the bill, although no date has yet been set for a work session.

LD 1482 appears to be a direct renunciation of President Donald Trump’s January executive order, “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling.”

That order mandated an end to all public school promotion of DEI principles and radical gender ideology, which says a man can become a woman or vice-versa, and encourages a child to take reportedly harmful drugs and undergo irreversible surgeries to appear more like the opposite sex.

If Golek’s bill passes, it could put the Maine Department of Education (MDOE) at an even greater risk of losing federal funds. The MDOE has already lost some federal funding over the state’s refusal to remove transgender-identifying males from high school girls’ sports, thereby violating Title IX anti-discrimination laws.