Case has since been referred to District of Rhode Island
Maine state rep discusses lawsuit over being censured for pointing out trans athlete issue
Republican Maine State Rep. Laurel Libby speaks with OutKick contributor Riley Gaines about her recent lawsuit after being censured for a social media post that sparked a trans athlete inclusion battle. (Gaines for Girls Podcast on OutKick)
After Maine State Rep. Laurel Libby filed a lawsuit over her recent censure for a social media post pointing out a trans athlete in a girls' competition, all of Maine's federal judges have recused themselves from the case.
The judges, John C. Nivison, John A. Woodcock, Lance E. Walker, Karen F. Wolf, Stacey D. Neumann and Nancy Torresen, signed recusal orders on Tuesday, shortly after the case was initially filed. No reason was provided for the judges' recusal. The case has since been referred to the District of Rhode Island, per multiple reports.
Libby was censured by the state House of Representatives on Feb. 25 in a partisan 75-70 vote. The basis of the censure was that Libby posted a photograph and named a trans athlete who was under 18 after the athlete won first place for Greely High School at a state girls' pole vault competition. But Libby and her attorneys argue the athlete had already been publicized by other media outlets prior to her post.
Laurel Libby
Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, who passed the censure, is the main defendant in the lawsuit alongside House of Representatives clerk Robert Hunt. The Maine Attorney General’s Office will represent Fecteau.
Libby's lawsuit seeks to have her voting and speaking rights restored. Fecteau previously said Libby's rights would be restored when she apologized, but she does not intend to apologize. Libby told Fox News Digital in an interview on Tuesday that she encourages Fecteau to restore her rights to avoid taking the case to court and costing taxpayers the price of any potential litigation.
Libby represents more than 9,000 constituents in Maine's House District 90, and six of them have signed onto the lawsuit as plaintiffs because the censure has impeded her ability to help carry out other legislative actions to serve those constituents.
MAINE REP LAUREL LIBBY FILES LAWSUIT OVER CENSURE FOR CALLING OUT TRANS ATHLETE IN GIRLS' SPORTS
Maine State Rep. Laurel Libby is sounding the alarm over the state's defiance of President Donald Trump's executive order demanding an end to biological males competing in women's sports. (Getty | Maine House of Representatives)
"The speaker's actions did not just disenfranchise me but disenfranchised the thousands of constituents that I represent, and that's the bigger picture here; the fact that the speaker, in his eyes, retaliated against me because he doesn't like what I have to say," Libby said.
For Libby, the lawsuit is not only meant to restore her rights to her and her constituents. She also said it's an important step in the national effort to combat trans inclusion in women's sports.
"Maine has, for whatever reason, become ground zero for this debate, and, of course, I want to have my voice back so I can speak to that; and as we address this issue within the legislature, I hope that all that has unfolded over the next few weeks can help change the course in the debate, so that not just Maine girls, but girls across the country, have a fair, safe and level playing field," Libby said.
On Tuesday, Maine also became the first state to see a reduction in federal funding for refusing to comply with President Donald Trump's executive order to keep trans athletes out of women's and girls' sports. The USDA issued a pause on all funding to the University of Maine System, which is a network of eight public universities in the state.
Maine is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for potential Title IX violations over its refusal to comply with Trump's recent executive order to prevent trans athletes from competing in girls' and women's sports.
HHS served a notice of violation to the state of Maine on Feb. 25 and declared the state violated Title IX by allowing trans athletes to compete in girls' sports. HHS later expanded the scope of the investigation to include the Maine Principals Association and Greely High School.
Libby's initial social media post identifying the trans athlete prompted national awareness of the situation in the state, and even preceded a public spat between Trump and Gov. Janet Mills.
The controversy even incited a protest against Mills called the "March Against Mills," which took place outside Maine's State House on Saturday morning. Several female athletes took the microphone at the march to speak out against their Democrat governor.
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Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.
