Nicole Maines

American actress Nicole Maines made history when she was cast as the first transgender superhero on television. Born on October 7, 1997 in Gloversville, NY, Maines and her twin brother Jonas were adopted by Kelly Maines, the second cousin of their birth mother, and her husband Walter shortly after they were born, raising the children in Portland, Maine. Maines knew by the time she was three years old that she was transgender. While attending elementary school, Maines used the girls' restroom. Following a complaint from the grandfather of a classmate, she was barred from using the girls' restroom any further, forcing her to use the teachers' restroom. Maines and her family sued the school district, claiming discrimination, and the case made it all the way to the state Supreme Court. In the case of Doe v. Regional School Unit 26, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the school district had violated the Human Rights Act, prohibited the district from baring transgender students from using the bathroom consistent with their gender identity, and awarding Maines and her family $75,000. Following the groundbreaking ruling in June of 2014, the young teen found herself a face for trans rights. She was the subject of a best-selling book, "Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family," by Amy Ellis Nutt. She also made her TV debut, appearing as a transgender teen on an episode of the medical drama "Royal Pains" (USA Network, 2009-2016). Maines also appeared in two documentaries about the trans experience, "The Trans List" (HBO, 2016), and "Not Your Skin" (2017). After dropping out of the University of Maine in order to pursue acting, Maines once again made history, when she was cast on the fourth season of "Supergirl" (CBS/The CW, 2015-21) as Dreamer, marking the first time a transgender superhero would be featured on television.