2020 HRC Upstander Award Honoree, Nicole Maines, is a hero for the LGBTQ+ community in many unique ways
She makes her debut and shines as the breakout star and standout character ‘Nia Nal’ aka ‘Dreamer,’ TV’s first transgender superhero, on The CW’s incredibly popular adaptation of the DC Comic “Supergirl” (Sundays 9/8c).
Maines is brilliant as she brings to life ‘Nia/Dreamer,’ ‘Kara Danvers/Supergirl’ (Melissa Benoist, “Glee”) strong, hopeful and inspirational second half, who is a truth-seeking news reporter at ‘CatCo’ with ‘Kara Danvers/Supergirl’ when not protecting the citizens of ‘National City’.
Nicole Maines is just as much of a superhero on screen, if not more, than off screen. Born and raised in Maine, Nicole made her extraordinary mark in the world by being a LGBTQ+ activist and indisputable voice for the transgender community.
In 2014, Maines fought and won the Supreme Court case, Doe v. Clenchy, that moved the needle for transgender children by allowing them to use the school bathroom designated for the gender with which they identify. She is an inspiration on-and-off screen paving the way for the next generation of LGBTQ+ youth and being a beacon of light for all.
Maines booked her first role guest starring in USA’s “Royal Pains” while studying at University of Maine and landed the lead role in 2019’s BIT, a movie about a transgender vampire moving to Los Angeles.
Being able to be vulnerable and open to share with the world her journey of being transgender with the help of Amy Ellis Nutt in her New York Times Bestseller biography, “Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family” ignites us to share our truth.
When Nicole needs to recharge from being super actor-activist hero on-and-off screen, she loves playing video games on Xbox and the Nintendo Switch. In addition, Maines enjoys cosplay; anything to give her a reason to dress up, especially Star Wars themed. Growing up, Maines loved playing dress up because it was how she could express herself before transitioning, she believes playing dress up gave her most of her inspiration and desire to pursue acting in college.
Beyond gaming and cosplay, Maines has an infatuation for art; it runs in her family with her mom being quite the illustrator/painter, Nicole loves creating digital art. As being as creative, inspirational and artistic as she is on the screen, if not more, off the screen Nicole shows her passion in everything she does and believes in, a hero in many unique ways.
