Shain Neumeier

I'm an attorney, activist and community organizer, as well as an out and proud member of the disability & LGBTQ+ communities. My passion on the issue of ending abuse and neglect of youth with disabilities in schools and treatment facilities stems from my own experiences with involuntary medical treatment and bullying and led me to go to law school. I've pursued my goal of using legal advocacy to address these problems ever since. I returned to Western Massachusetts in 2017 to begin my law practice focusing on disability, youth, and transgender rights. When I'm not working, I'm probably crafting, playing Dungeons & Dragons, listening to history podcasts, or watching Netflix with my partner and three feline roommates.

Shain Mahaffey Neumeier (born 1987) is an American autistic and nonbinary transgender activist and attorney from Los Angeles, California. An activist for disability rights, youth liberation, asexuality, and transgender rights, Neumeier was diagnosed as autistic in 2010 while a law student. They also have other disabilities including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, cleft lip and palate, and ectodermal dysplasia. Neumeier endorses abortion rights activism while also strongly opposing contemporary eugenics, such as the idea that people should necessarily avoid bringing pregnancies to the term where the fetus might have a disability once born.

Neumeier is best known for advocacy against coercive and forced treatment, including advocacy to close the Judge Rotenberg Center, an institution for people with developmental disabilities known for use of electric skin shock aversive treatment.