The Maine House of Representatives voted to censure Rep. Laurel Libby Tuesday night for a recent social media post pointing out that a transgender high school athlete won a girls’ competition.
The Maine House’s Democratic majority, led by Speaker Ryan Fecteau, passed the censure resolution Tuesday night in a 75-70 vote. Libby is now no longer allowed to speak on the house floor or vote until she issues an apology.
Libby told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview after the vote that she does not plan to apologize for her recent post.
After the censure had been determined, Fecteau told Libby that the House members would take a break while Libby considered her apology.
“I told him, ‘We do not need to take ease’ as I was going to continue speaking up for Maine girls,” Libby said.
Libby’s post came last Sunday when she pointed out that a transgender track and field athlete had taken first place at a Maine girls’ pole vault competition after competing as a boy just one year earlier. The premise of Libby’s censure by the Maine House was focused on the fact that she posted a photo of a minor and provided that minor’s name.
“It’s a remarkable double standard as there are public photos of this individual in many places, on social media and even some posted by his school, and so yes, this post went viral, but this was an individual who participated in a public event, who publicly stood on a podium and accepted a championship medal that rightfully belonged to the girls standing on the second-place spot,” Libby said.
House Majority Leader Matt Moonen condemned Libby in a statement on the House floor.
“She has irreparably broken the trust that has been placed in her as an elected official serving in this House of Representatives,” Moonen said. “This institution and all of Maine deserve better.”
House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham spoke out against the censure, pointing out that the state legislature’s ethics code does not mention online posts that members make.
During Tuesday’s vote, Libby came to the house floor with a prepared seven-page speech on the importance of protecting girls’ and women’s sports from trans inclusion. However, throughout the night, her microphone was consistently turned off when she was trying to deliver that speech.
“I was completely unable, from my first sentence, to get a word out, before the other side was shutting me down,” Libby said, adding that she had never seen anything like that happen during her tenure in the Maine legislature.
Libby later posted a video of her giving the speech on Facebook after the hearing.
Libby says that while she doesn’t plan to apologize, she does have another course of action she plans on taking to regain her voting and speaking privileges, but did not disclose any details of that plan.
Maine Republicans and Libby’s constituents will now lose a vote and a voice for other issues in the state’s legislative process amid a busy month.
Libby recently proposed a bill to expand access to mental health resources for Maine residents, which she will now not be able to help push through. In the coming weeks, the Maine House will vote on the upcoming biannual budget, and Libby will not get to vote on that either.
“It’s look like I will not be able to speak on that or vote on that,” she said.
Libby’s revelation of the trans athlete ignited national conversation and coverage of the state’s policy on trans inclusion after Maine announced it would not comply with President Donald Trump’s recent “No Men in Women’s Sports” executive order.
Trump then vowed to cut funding to the state for refusing to follow his order during a gathering of governors at the White House last Thursday.
On Friday, Mills’ office responded with a statement threatening legal action against the Trump administration if it did withhold federal funding from the state. Then, Trump and Mills verbally sparred in a widely-publicized argument at the White House during a bipartisan meeting of governors.
Just hours after that interaction, the U.S. Department of Education announced it will be investigating the state for allowing trans athletes to compete in girls sports and potential Title IX violations.
Police protection has since been assigned to the high school that is attended by the trans athlete who Libby identified in her Facebook post, amid concerns over safety.
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God Speed, Representative Libby! It’s refreshing to know that Our Country has representation of Morals and Common Sense!!
Well, some of our country has morals and common sense, I suppose it really depends not only on who you are, but the situational ethics of moral relativism that dictated the democide of my family. Even though we were/are not political, that did not stop those who had agendas from foisting their uninvited and unsolicited opinions on us.
Red, Blue, Left boot, Right boot makes no difference to those who are socially and politically or religiously persecuted. Cancel culture is the “cult” that demands sacrifice on the alter of their hubris.
Someone with morals and common sense
Sorry you dealt with the childish behavior of these fools it must have been frustrating.
I hope the governor of Maine pays heavily for her refusal to abide by the laws laid out by the president of the United States.
Maybe if they had daughters forced to shower and share a locker room with a man..with a penis they would be singing a different tune.
Also using common sense someone with a perverse mind and or wanting to get some wins could easily claim trans for access to locker rooms and such
I don’t care how people want to live there lives or who you choose to sex with but when you have a penis your a man lol cut and dry