The Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Maine lawmaker who was censured for defending women’s sports from male intrusion.
“This Supreme Court decision is a victory for girls and free speech, and a defeat for woke gender advocates who want to deny biological reality,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told The Daily Signal. “It is outrageous that a state legislator was ever censured for speaking the truth – there are only two genders, and it is unfair and unsafe for biological men to compete in women’s sports.”
Maine state Rep. Laurel Libby, a Republican, filed a federal lawsuit against Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau for censuring her after she sounded the alarm on a biological male student beating his female competitors at the Maine State Class B Championship in pole vault for girls.
Fecteau asked her to apologize for the post, and after she refused, censured her.
“This is a victory not just for my constituents, but for the Constitution itself,” Libby said on X. “The Supreme Court has affirmed what should NEVER have been in question — that no state legislature has the power to silence an elected official simply for speaking truthfully about issues that matter.”
She sued to get her speaking privileges back in the state House of Representatives.
? 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
“Biological males have no place in girls sports,” Libby said at the time. “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.”
The emergency order prohibits Fecteau, a Democrat, and the clerk from preventing Libby from voting or speaking on the floor.
Liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson were the only two to vote against Libby and her battle to defend women’s sports.
Jackson said today’s Supreme Court “barely pauses to acknowledge” the “important threshold limitations on the exercise of its own authority.”
“It opts instead to dole out error correction as it sees fit,” she said in dissent.
The U.S. Department of Justice and Attorney General Pam Bondi have expressed support for Libby’s case. The DOJ filed an amicus brief supporting the Maine lawmaker.
“The Department of Justice is proud to fight for girls in Maine and stand alongside Rep. Libby, who is being attacked simply for defending girls in her home state,” Bondi told Fox News Digital. “As our lawsuit against the state of Maine illustrates, we will always protect girls’ sports and girls’ spaces from radical gender ideology.”
DOJ Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon also defended Libby.
“The Maine House Speaker silenced Rep. Laurel Libby for refusing to apologize over her stance against male athletes in girls’ sports,” Dhillon said. “This isn’t leadership, it’s unconstitutional. The Civil Rights Division stands ready to defend the rule of law.”
? Wow!! Congrats to the voters in her district and to @laurel_libby ! We at @CivilRights were proud to file an amicus brief supporting the First Amendment issues in this case. We need more brave lawmakers like Rep. Libby standing up for young women! https://t.co/JC8UuUO5D2— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@HarmeetKDhillon) May 20, 2025
Libby is a critic of Maine Gov. Janet Mill’s refusal to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order keeping males out of female sports.
Mills publicly opposed the Feb. 5 executive order protecting women’s sports from transgender intrusion. Mills yelled, “See you in court,” at the president during a Feb. 21 National Governors Association event at the White House after Trump called her out for not complying with the executive order.
“You better comply, you better comply, because otherwise you’re not getting any federal funding,” Trump vowed.
That same day, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced a review of the Maine Department of Education, including the University of Maine System, “based on information that Maine intends to defy this executive order” and “will continue to allow biological males to compete in women’s sports.”
