The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in favor of a Maine Republican state representative whose voting privileges were shut down after she posted a photograph of a transgender athlete on social media.
Democrats took away Rep. Laurel Libby’s vote in the statehouse after the post she published in February showed the biologically male athlete competing as a male and then as a female.
‘The Supreme Court has affirmed what should NEVER have been in question — that no state legislature has the power to silence an elected official simply for speaking truthfully about issues that matter.’
The highest court in the land ruled 7-2 in favor of an emergency appeal from Libby to allow her to regain her voting privileges without apologizing to the athlete. The justices offered no explanation for the decision.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented in the ruling.
Libby’s post pointed out that the athlete had placed fifth in boys’ pole vaulting but “propelled his school’s girls’ team to win the overall state championship” only one year later.
“The Maine Principals’ Association’s blatant disregard for federal rules means that deserving, BIOLOGICAL girls, have titles ripped away from them. This is outrageous, and unfair to the many female athletes who work every single day to succeed in their respective sports,” Libby wrote.
Trans allies used a centuries-old rule in the statehouse to remove Libby’s right to debate as well as to vote. They said that Libby needed to apologize to the transgender athlete to regain her privileges.
RELATED: Protests against Maine governor intensify after public feud with Trump over trans athletes
The Maine state Capitol building. Photo by UPI/Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
Justice Jackson said she dissented on the basis that the court was incentivizing the abuse of emergency relief grants and that it would lead to more misuse in the future.
Libby praised the ruling as a victory for free speech.
“This is a victory not just for my constituents, but for the Constitution itself. The Supreme Court has affirmed what should NEVER have been in question — that no state legislature has the power to silence an elected official simply for speaking truthfully about issues that matter.”
Others defended Libby on the same reasoning.
“FIRE supports Rep. Laurel Libby’s appeal of her censure by the Maine Legislature, which prevents her from voting or speaking on the floor of the state’s House of Representatives,” read a statement from the civil rights group. “Maine’s Democratic majority banned Rep. Libby from the floor because they didn’t like her First Amendment-protected social media post on trans teens in female sports — a matter of intense public debate.”
President Donald Trump had publicly confronted Maine’s Democrat governor in March over the state’s refusal to comply with his executive order against transgender athletes competing in girls’ sports.
“You better comply — because otherwise you’re not getting any federal funding,” Trump said to Gov. Janet Mills.
“I’ll see you in court,” she responded.
“Good, I’ll see you in court. I look forward to that. That should be a real easy one,” he replied.
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