Maine legislator sues for being censured over post about trans student athlete
Speaker of the House Ryan Fecteau (D-Biddeford) reads the censure resolution to Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) in the well of the House after the majority of the chamber voted for the formal reprimand on Feb. 25, 2025. (Image via Maine Legislature live stream)
A state representative is suing in federal court after she was barred from voting and speaking in the Maine House of Representatives last month.
Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) filed a federal lawsuit against Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau (D-Biddeford) for violating her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights by censuring her for a social media post about a transgender student. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine.
“Instead of having an open and honest debate about the devastating impacts of Maine girls being forced to compete against biological males, Speaker Fecteau and his Democratic colleagues resorted to canceling and silencing me,” Libby said in a news release Tuesday.
The House voted 75-70 along party lines to censure Libby for posting on her legislative Facebook page photographs and personal details about a transgender high school athlete. Censuring is considered an official statement of condemnation by the Legislature. House Majority Leader Matt Moonen (D-Portland) proposed the censure based on the decorum principles outlined in the Legislature’s code of ethics.
Since Libby declined to apologize to the body after the vote, she is still unable to cast a vote or speak on the House floor until she complies.
Libby’s mid-February post garnered national attention, including from President Donald Trump who threatened to withhold funding from Maine for not complying with his executive order seeking to ban transgender women from competing in sports that correspond with their gender identity.
Libby went on to say in her release that the Democratic majority is “flagrantly violating” Trump’s executive order.
The Maine Principals Association has said it will not enforce the executive order and continue to allow transgender athletes to participate in female sports in accordance with the Maine Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on gender identity, among other protected classes.
In response, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights ruled the state Department of Education is in violation of Title IX after a four-day investigation that included no interviews, data requests or negotiations. The U.S. Department of Education is also reviewing Title IX compliance within the Maine DOE and UMaine System.
Also Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it was halting research and grant funding to the University of Maine System amid its ongoing investigation.
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