Maine state Rep. Laurel Libby (R) said Thursday that “things are moving quickly” in her lawsuit against the state's Democratic House speaker after being censured in February for a Facebook post about a high schooler who allegedly competed as a male one year and as a female the next.
“We have filed an emergency appeal in the First Circuit Court of Appeals, and so, that is moving forward,” Libby told Newsmax.
“We'll be looking for a quick response, because my 9,000 constituents are disenfranchised every day that I cannot speak or vote on their behalf. I'm headed to session from here, and I won't be able to represent them fully.”
Libby stated at the time that she has no plans to back down, saying that “[B]ullies are pretty predictable. And so, as anticipated, Speaker Ryan Fecteau and the Democrat majority did censure me. And they have declared that I cannot vote or speak on the floor until I apologize."
“But if there's one thing that I know about bullies, is you don't back down," she added. "And so, I have no intention of backing down from this fight and will continue to speak up for Maine girls.”
In a subsequent interview, Libby made the point that “[W]hat's shocking about it is the biological male participating in girls' sports in Maine. Shortly after President Trump issued his executive order, Maine went against it, and a biological male won the girls' pole vault championship — state championship here in Maine.”
President Trump signed an executive order earlier this year banning men from women’s sports, giving federal agencies the power to ensure that Title IX is followed in order for federal funding to be given. The Trump administration states that Title IX’s interpretation of “sex” means biological sex.
At a meeting of governors at the White House in February, Maine’s Democrat Governor Janet Mills told Trump, after warning that the state wouldn’t get federal funding if it didn’t comply with the interpretation of Title IX, that “[W]e’ll see you in court.” Trump replied that he looked forward to it.
The Office for Civil Rights, which is a division of HHS, then issued a notice of violation against the Maine Department of Education for violating federal regulations regarding Title IX.
Trump subsequently cut off funding to certain universities in Maine, after which they agreed to abide by the new policy.
However, the DOJ sued the state earlier this month after state officials said they would not comply with the executive order, even though an investigation found that the state violated anti-discrimination laws by allowing men into women’s sports.