Maine Rep Laurel Libby files lawsuit over censure for calling out trans athlete in girls' sports
Maine Republican State Rep. Laurel Libby joins ‘America Reports’ to discuss being censured from the Maine House due to her comments regarding transgender athletes.
Maine State Rep. Laurel Libby has filed a lawsuit against Speaker of the House Ryan Fecteau after she was censured on Feb. 15 for her social media post about a trans high school athlete.
The lawsuit seeks to have Libby's voting and speaking rights restored. Maine House Clerk Robert Hunt is named as the other defendant in the lawsuit. Libby was originally told she would have her rights restored if she apologized for the post. However, she has said she will not apologize.
Libby's censure came in response to a social media post in which she pointed out a high school trans athlete who won a girls' pole vault competition. The post ignited a nationwide controversy and a spat between Democrat Maine Gov. Janet Mills and President Donald Trump, prompting federal agencies to launch Title IX investigations against the state and school district where the athlete was enrolled.
A massive protest against Mills followed in Maine's capital of Augusta.
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Maine State Rep. Laurel Libby has filed a lawsuit against her state's speaker of the house after she was censured on Feb. 15. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty/File)
The basis of the censure by Fecteau and Maine Democrats was Libby's post that identified a minor with a photograph and by name. However, Libby and her attorneys argue that the athlete had already been publicized in a positive light and was competing in the public forum of a state-sponsored athletic event.
"The championship was a public event, was streamed online, and the names, schools, and photographs of the