‘Supergirl’ Star Nicole Maines Decries Anti-Trans Laws: ‘Please Stop Hurting Us’

“Supergirl” star Nicole Maines is very much on the front lines of a growing battle over the civil rights of transgender people. She always has been. The actress not only plays television’s first transgender superhero Nia Nal on The CW Series and transitioned at an early age herself; she was also the plaintiff in a groundbreaking Maine state Supreme Court decision affirming the rights of transgender children to use restrooms that match their personal gender expression. And now, with those rights under increasing attack throughout the United States, we spoke at length with Maines, who tells TheWrap that seeing bills aimed at enshrining discrimination against trans youth across the country is “enraging” — especially when the lawmakers proposing them claim they are doing so on behalf of the children that would be harmed by those laws. “It’s so frustrating and enraging to know that they are citing a concern for children’s safety and they’re citing concerns of child abuse on the floor,” Maines says. “And then they’ll go back to the testimony room where trans kids have traveled five plus hours to testify on their own behalf in front of state legislators saying, ‘Please do not take away the care that could save my life.’ And they’re gonna go backstage and scream at those children to shut up, belittle them, record them, try to take photos of them, actively harass these children and then in the same breath go out there and say ‘These children are clearly being abused.’ Yeah! By you!”