Rep. Laurel Libby: ‘The Democrats Caved!’

Rep. Laurel Libby is the Maine legislator who stood up for girls by calling out a male competitor who switched genders and went on to win the female pole vaulting competition in the state. The whole situation became intensely political after Maine’s governor Janet Mills pointedly refused to comply with President Trump’s executive order on trans athletes promising to see the president in court.

The HHS Office for Civil Rights quickly announced an investigation into Maine but meanwhile the state house voted to censure Rep. Libby for posting information about the trans student on Facebook. They said she could neither vote nor speak on the floor of the Maine House until she apologized. 

Rep. Libby refused to apologize and instead she sued the state house speaker. Here she is talking about the lawsuit with Riley Gaines in March.

3 weeks ago, ME Speaker Fecteau censured Rep Libby for refusing to apologize for defending women.

She’s now filed a federal lawsuit, arguing the censure silences her & leaves her constituents without representation.

No, this didn’t happen in Afghanistan. It happened in Maine. pic.twitter.com/yJT4obLI5K

— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) March 13, 2025

Her case wound up in a Rhode Island court after all of the state judges in Maine recused themselves. She lost at the district court level and appealed to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals. She lost there as well and then made an emergency appeal to the US Supreme Court. On May 20, the Supreme Court sided with her and ordered the state to allow her to vote.

🚨 VICTORY!🚨

The U.S. Supreme Court just restored the voice of 9,000 Mainers!

After 2+ months of being silenced for speaking up for Maine girls, I can once again vote on behalf of the people of House District 90.

This is a win for free speech — and for the Constitution. 🇺🇸

— Rep. Laurel Libby (@laurel_libby) May 20, 2025

Basically, this decision forced Maine to allow Rep. Libby to continue to vote while her actual case continued at the appeals court level. She wanted to continue to pursue that case to make sure Maine could never do this again to any other legislator.

What I did not know until today is that while the Maine House restored Rep. Libby’s ability to vote, they did not restore her ability to speak on the floor. That wasn’t specifically mentioned by the Supreme Court so the Democrats continued to silence her. However, that changed today at the very last moment.

In a major victory for free speech, representative government, and the Constitution, Maine State Representative Laurel Libby today announced that her full speaking and voting rights have been fully restored via House resolution. The decision by House Democrats marks a dramatic reversal after months of unconstitutional retaliation that left the constituents of House District 90 without representation.

“This is a victory not just for me — but for every Mainer who believes in the rule of law, the First Amendment, and the right to be represented in their government,” said Rep. Libby. “The Democrats caved because they knew they were losing in court. They’ve now been forced to admit what the Constitution has said all along: elected representatives cannot be silenced for speaking the truth.”…

“From day one, this was a blatant violation of the Constitution,” Rep. Libby continued.“Today’s reversal is proof that the people of Maine still have the power to hold theirgovernment accountable — and that no majority, however politically motivated, is abovethe Constitution. I have never apologized, and never will apologize, for speaking up indefense of Maine girls and their right to a fair, safe, and level playing field.”

Rep. Libby released a video about an hour ago with the caption “LIVE from Augusta… the Democrats CAVED!!” In this clip she explained this appeared to be a last minute decision to vote on restoring her right to speak before the Maine house adjourned for the rest of the year.

LIVE from Augusta… the Democrats CAVED!! pic.twitter.com/qiXLipy37i

— Rep. Laurel Libby (@laurel_libby) June 25, 2025

Congrats to Rep. Libby for standing her ground. Hopefully, she will go on to win her case and Maine will stop promoting boys competing against girls in high school sports.