Maine GOP rep censured after speaking out against trans-identified male competing in female state pole vaulting championship

The Maine House of Representatives has censured Rep Lauren Libby (R-Auburn) over her posting of a photo of a trans-identified male pole vaulter who won the state high school championships earlier in February. In the wake of her posting the photo, the Trump administration has pressured the state to abide by the executive order signed by Trump in early February barring biological males from female sports. Libby was censured in a 75-70 vote.

Libby spoke on the House floor on Tuesday during debate on the resolution, attempting to defend her actions while other members of the House frequently cut in and derailed her comments. "My speech does include some background to this post and the events thereafter, so I hope I will not be silenced during the middle of my speech," Libby said. She said that Democrats in the state have "done as they pleased" over the last six years, "ignoring the will of the people." 

This brought the first interruption, coming from Rep. Matt Moonen (D-Portland). "The remarks thus far bear no resemblance whatsoever to the words in this order. Mr. Speaker," he said. to which Speaker Ryan Fecteau said, "the Chair will remind the member to keep the comments to the order at hand."

Libby continued, "the order at hand is to silence me, to censure me, and my comments are regarding silencing so I think they're quite pertinent, if I may proceed. Whether it was the handling of COVID, passing a late-term abortion—," being cut off again.

"The chair will remind the member that the order before us is related to a post that the member made on Facebook related to a minor in their photo being shared on Facebook. I don't recall the post having anything to do with the pandemic or the chief executive, so the member may want to—the chair may provide the member with the courtesy of coming back to her when she has her remarks refined to not include comments about things that are not in before the body the member," said Fecteau.

Rep David Boyer (R-Poland) said, "I think we all agree that this is a serious order and a serious issue, centering our colleague and I would request just a little latitude for the member to defend themselves."

Libby later continued, saying she would "fast forward," that "last Monday, Maine girls walked into an arena excited to compete in the state championship for pole vault. What an honor after years of hard work, that hard work pays off to be competing at this level. But that excitement was quickly dashed as they learned that there was a biological male participating and that their hard work didn't matter. Can you imagine, just for a minute, their extreme disappointment and their sense of betrayal. Can you imagine trying to put your best foot forward, but knowing that the outcome was already predetermined by natural biological advantages?"

This brought another interruption by the speaker, saying, "is the member attempting to provide comment about why the member was justified in posting a photo of a minor?" Libby said she was "not justifying," but rather, "explaining the silencing of Maine girls, the canceling of girls sports."

Libby later added that she didn’t know "how many more sentences I’ll be allowed to speak," saying simply, "boys participating in girls' sports is not fair." After a pause, she continued, saying that the state championship was a "public event" and the athlete, a trans-identified male pole vaulter from Greely High School, chose to participate "of his own free will" and "his photos are posted publicly on multiple websites." She later concluded, "it is becoming abundantly clear, Maine girls will not get fairness in Maine, and when the woke left can’t silence women, they cancel them."

She wrote after the session, "Our girls deserve so much better than the 'leadership' that Governor Janet Mills and that Maine Democrat Majority are currently offering. I will not be bullied into rejecting basic common sense: biological males have *no place* in girls' sports. Period." She added in a video that "Democrats in Augusta have silenced me for speaking up for Maine girls," going on to deliver the speech she was "not allowed to give." She said that the fight was "far from over."