Viral Clash: Maine School Board Member Questions Policy Treating ‘Misgendering’ As Bullying

In a viral video, a Maine school board member confronted the board after he learned students could be suspended for referring to their classmates by their biological sex rather than their chosen gender identity.

Josh Tabor, who was elected as a write-in candidate for the North Berwick section of the Maine School Administrative District following his two-week campaign, had the following exchange with members of the school board:

Tabor: Just for clarification, is this the policy that’s used: if a student misuses a pronoun, they are suspended?

School board member: An intentional, yeah, that’s part of the definition of bullying.

Tabor: So if I raise my daughters to, if the person is a female, appears to be a female, to use she pronouns, and that student says, “no, I want to be something else” will my child be suspended for that?

School board member: Oh, yeah. That would be harassment.

Tabor: When I heard that students are being suspended because they are using the wrong pronoun, I was aghast. I didn’t realize that. … One is biological facts, it’s actually XX chromosome, XY chromosomes. Those are facts. We can’t change those. It doesn’t matter what our opinion is. We can’t change those things.  Those are immutable facts. And I’m wondering…my question is, are we suspending students for immutable facts? That’s what I’m asking.

School board member: Not for making a genuine mistake. If someone is doing sort of what you’re sort of doing here, and sort of trying to attack somebody because you don’t agree with it, that’s very different and I think that’s what they’re talking about is, I’m going to keep saying it, because I know it bothers you, then yes, this policy should apply.

Tabor: I think that you are out of line by assuming that I am attacking anybody.

School board member: Then I don’t know what you mean.

Tabor: I’m asking a general question.

School board member: I think it’s been answered. I think if you accidentally do it, and somebody corrects you, fine, it’s not an issue.

Another board member:  I mean, think about the other kids. So what is your goal here? That they’re allowed to be dead-named?

Tabor: I do not believe it is harmful to speak the truth.

School board member: You don’t think it’s harmful to be called something you don’t identify with?

Tabor:  I don’t think it’s harmful to speak the truth.

Students are being suspended in Maine schools for not using preferred pronouns

Berwick and Lebanon Maine Schools confirm the suspension policy

“Just for clarification, is this the policy that's used if a student misuses a pronoun, they are suspended?”

“An intentional, yeah”… pic.twitter.com/m5ThmvsnWl

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) January 1, 2026

This is concerning. @CivilRights has been investigating similar policies in other jurisdictions as well. https://t.co/Wp6pkqzn9q

— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) January 1, 2026

Tabor explained in another forum what prompted him to run for the board:

I had a conversation with my dad. He said, “Are you going back into education?’ I said, “Hell, no. That place is a viper pit. All they do is ruin everything they touch.” I firmly believe that, and I’m in it still.

This is what my father said to me; wise words from a very wise man. He said, “Josh, you’re a firecracker; you’ve been a firecracker your whole life. I want you to think about the effect a firecracker has on the outside of a box: It makes a loud bang and a little small mark; you can have an effect from the outside. But I want you to think about the what a firecracker does if it’s on the inside of the box.”

“And I went, ‘Damn, Dad.’ Because he was right.