The Maine House voted Tuesday to censure a Republican lawmaker from Auburn whose social media posts about a transgender high school athlete have drawn national attention to the student and to Maine’s policies.
But Rep. Laurel Libby refused to apologize after the rare rebuke on the House floor and, instead, accused her Democratic colleagues of attempting to silence her.
Tuesday night’s 75-70 vote, which fell largely along party lines in the Democratic-controlled House, was the latest flashpoint in a roughly week-old controversy that had landed Maine in the center of the national debate over transgender athletes.
The censure resolution accuses Libby of “reprehensible” actions as part of an effort to “advance her political agenda” — actions that the resolution and Democrats said could endanger the student.
“The representative from Auburn’s actions have directly harmed this school, the families and our children in our community,” said Rep. Christina Mitchell, a Democrat from Cumberland whose district includes the high school the student attends. “And it is all happening because one person — an adult, a legislator — chose to use a child to score political points.”
Libby had posted pictures and the name of a transgender student who had won a girls’ track championship. Her post criticized Maine schools for refusing to comply with a Trump executive order banning transgender athletes from participating in women's and girls' sports.
The Facebook post quickly went viral as it spread on social media and on conservative sites. On Friday, Trump got into a tense exchange with Maine Gov. Janet Mills when he asked her during a luncheon with other governors whether Maine would comply with his executive order on transgender athletes. Mills replied that Maine follows state and federal law, eventually adding “see you in court” when the president threatened to withhold federal funding from Maine.
This week, the school increased security in response to the national attention and threatening comments made by some online.
Rep. Matt Moonen of Portland, who serves as the Democratic majority leader, pointed out that Libby was asked to take down the Facebook post after some commenters suggested that harm should come to the student.
“Instead, she continued to bring national media attention to the student, callously disregarding the threats of harm and the serious concerns for their safety and wellbeing," Moonen said. “These actions have made it unequivocally clear that the representative from Auburn, Rep. Libby, has violated the legislative code of ethics.”
Several Republican lawmakers strongly criticized Libby for posting the picture and name of the student. But they warned Democrats against censuring Libby for disagreeing with her politics, with some pointing out that other pictures of the student could easily be found online before Libby's post.
Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham, the Republican House leader, said the Legislature’s code of ethics do not have any guidelines for social media posts and noted that Libby’s post didn’t violated Facebook’s standards. He said censure resolution “makes a mockery” of the process.
“I think that the members should think carefully before they vote on this emotionally charged issue and not vote on what their pleasure or displeasure with the post,” Faulkingham said. “Think about the standard that this sets for the future of this Legislature. It’s a path that we don’t want to go down.”
Following the vote, House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, called Libby to the center of the House chamber and read a statement that lawmakers have an obligation to keep “Maine kids” out of the political fray. Fecteau said that Libby violated that public trust with her posts.
"There is a time and place for policy debates," Fecteau said. "That time and place will never be a social media post attacking a Maine student."
Fecteau then offered Libby time to draft an apology to the full House. She immediately refused. As a result, she will not be allowed to speak or cast a vote on the House floor.
Libby remained defiant when speaking with reporters afterward outside of the House chamber.
“It’s pretty clear that when the woke left doesn’t like what you have to say, doesn’t like the truth, that they will silence you, that they will cancel you,” Libby said. “Maine girls have no defense. They are being asked to put up with an agenda that erases them.”
Libby also pointed to polls showing that the vast majority of Americans do not believe that transgender athletes, who were born biologically male, should be allowed to compete in female competitions. Recently elected to a third term, Libby is a vocal conservative voice at the State House who has emerged as a top fundraiser in the Legislature through her political action committee.
Libby was just the fourth member of the Maine House to ever be censured. But three of those four censures have happened during the past year.
Last April, Rep. Mike Lemelin, R-Chelsea, was censured for saying in a floor speech that the October 2023 mass shootings in Lewiston that killed 18 people were God's retribution on Maine for Democrats increasing access to abortion. A second Republican lawmaker, Rep. Shelley Rudnicki of Fairfield, was also censured for saying she agreed with Lemelin. Both lawmakers subsequently read formal apologies to the House.
