The Maine House of Representatives has censured Republican Rep. Laurel Libby, who outed and deadnamed a transgender student athlete.
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Libby’s February 17 Facebook post pictured a trans girl who won a championship. To avoid causing further distress to the student, The Advocate will not link to the post nor name her school or the sport.
Libby has frequently denounced the presence of trans girls and women in female sports. “It is fundamentally unfair to allow biological males to compete in girls’ sports, yet that is what's happening in Maine,” she wrote in one Facebook post. Another reads, “It’s common sense; biological males should have no place in girls’ sports. … It’s time to restore girls’ sports and protect the funding for our schools.” She has also praised Donald Trump’s executive order that threatens to take federal funding from any state that allows trans girls and women to compete alongside cis females.
The Maine House Tuesday voted 75-70 to censure Libby, with Democrats in favor and Republicans against, according to the Portland Press Herald and other outlets. “The censure means that Libby won’t be able to speak or vote on the House floor unless she apologizes, something Libby said Tuesday she has no intention of doing,” the Press Herald reports.
Libby defended her post as free speech, but Democrats said it was wrong to target the student. “There is a time and place for policy debates,” said House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, a gay Democrat, as reported by the paper. “That time and place will never be a social media post attacking a Maine student. Maine kids and all Maine people deserve better.” He had previously spoken to Libby and asked her to remove the post, but she refused. It has been shared widely and helped spur Trump’s recent confrontation with Maine Gov. Janet Mills.
“I am disappointed that when given the chance to reverse course and take down the social media post in question, the representative instead chose to double down,” said another Democrat, Rep. Christina Mitchell. “I believe, and many of my constituents have told me they believe, it is morally and ethically wrong to use children for one’s own political gain.”
Democratic Rep. William Bridgeo said the issue of trans sports participation can be debated, “but I draw the line at making innocent minors the object of the debate. No child designed these rules, and no child deserves to be targeted by any adults who are upset about them.” The Maine Principal’s Association has stood by its rule allowing trans students to compete under their gender identity. State Rep. Liz Caruso, a Republican, has introduced a bill to ban their participation, however.
Republican Rep. Ken Fredette allowed, “We should not be using photos, images, statements of somebody else’s children to make a point,” but he questioned if Libby should be censured. “That’s a much more difficult question for me to answer in the world of Facebook and Twitter,” he said.
Meanwhile, 30 state and national organizations issued a statement Tuesday condemning Libby’s post. “Our organizations stand united in declaring that adults should never harass, ‘out’, or instigate attacks on minors,” they wrote, according to the Press Herald.“All children deserve our safety and protection, so they can feel safe at home, at school, and in their communities.” The organizations include EqualityMaine, the Maine Women’s Lobby, the Maine Medical Association, and the Maine Council of Churches.
Last Friday at a press event for the National Governors Association meeting at the White House, Trump attacked Mills, a Democrat, when she challenged him on the executive order. She said she would comply with federal and state law, to which he responded, “Well — I’m — we are the federal law.” She defiantly said, “We’ll see you in court.” Within hours, the U.S. Department of Education, which Trump has vowed to eliminate, launched an investigation into the state’s compliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which bans sex discrimination in educational programs that receive federal funds. It is also investigating Minnesota and California. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi is now saying these states could face lawsuits if they fail to comply with the anti-trans sports order.
The number of trans female athletes is minuscule, and scientists and activists say they do not have an inherent advantage over cis females.
