Maine Representative Laurel Libby has filed a lawsuit against Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives Ryan Fecteau after he moved to censure Libby for defending women’s sports.
“Instead of having an open and honest debate about the devastating impacts of Maine girls being forced to compete against biological males, Speaker Fecteau and his Democratic colleagues resorted to canceling and silencing me,” Libby said. “Speaker Fecteau and the Democrat majority are risking hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for our schools by stubbornly refusing to address this injustice. I have the constitutional right to speak out and my constituents have the right to full representation in the Maine House. Biological males have no place in girls’ sports. Our girls have every right, under federal law, to fair competition in sports. We will not let them be erased by the Democrat majority advancing a woke progressive agenda.”
Libby said the lawsuit argues that the censure violates the First Amendment as well as the Equal-Protection, Due Process, and Guarantee Clauses.
Maine judges have recused themselves from the case, Fox News reports. The judges did not issue an explanation for their recusals. The case has since been referred to the District of Rhode Island.
Last month, the Maine House of Representatives voted 75-70 along party lines to censure Libby after she spoke out against a transgender athlete competing in a girls’ high school pole vault event. The censure barred Libby from speaking on the House floor or casting votes until she issued an apology.
