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Maine state representative Laurel Libby is allowed to vote for her constituents after three months of being censured, thanks to a 7-2 Supreme Court decision Tuesday.
After the state's Democrat majority voted to strip Libby of her voting rights in February for making a social media post that called out a biologically trans athlete who won a girls' pole vault competition, she fought a legal battle to overturn it all the way up to the Supreme Court. And it paid off with Tuesday's decision.
Libby called the battle a 'civil rights' case in an interview with Fox News Digital.
"I most certainly do believe this is a civil rights issue for Maine girls and girls across the country who are being sidelines by biological males," Libby said, later adding that the censure "was political retaliation from start to finish," over her vocal stance on trans athlete inclusion.
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Libby believes the ruling is essential in order to protect Americans who want to speak out against allowing trans athletes in girls' and women's sports while the country is in a pivotal standoff over the issue.
"Thankfully the Supreme Court saw the merits and the high stakes with this case, and really what was on the line not just for just me, my constituents in Maine, but really the entire country if this was upheld… No one should ever be silenced for speaking up on behalf of our girls," Libby said.
"Now we have a ruling from the Supreme Court that says no one can be silenced for speaking the truth even if it's an unpopular truth. So I hope we will be seeing more folks speaking up on behalf of women and girls and their rights."
The main defendant in Libby's lawsuit, Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, who passed the censure against Libby on Feb. 15, has vowed to restore Libby's voting rights to comply with the Supreme Court ruling.
"In accordance with the Supreme Court’s injunction pending appeal, Representative Libby’s ability to vote on the floor of the House has been restored until the current appeal process runs its course," Fecteau told Fox News Digital. "The Clerk of the House, whom the injunction is against, has already complied with this court ruling. We look forward to continuing with the important work Maine people expect of us."
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that requires states only allow females to compete, but multiple Democrat-run states, including Maine, have defied the order and continued to enable trans inclusion.
The U.S. Department of Justice and Attorney General Pam Bondi have even filed their own separate lawsuit against the state of Maine for continuing to defy the order.
MAINE ROCKED BY TRANS ATHLETE DOMINANCE AT GIRLS' TRACK MEET AMID ONGOING LEGAL CONFLICT WITH TRUMP
Libby has been a central figure in the conservative pushback against Democrat policies that enable trans inclusion in girls' sports in Maine. In addition to her lawsuit against Fecteau, Libby has been repeatedly critical of Mills for her refusal to comply with Trump.
"Ryan Fecteau and Janet Mills have been ruling our state for the last six years with an iron fist regardless of the will of Maine people," Libby said. "This sends a message that they can not continue to operate outside of the constitution and ignore the will of Maine people any longer."
A survey by the American Parents Coalition found that out of about 600 registered Maine voters, 63% said that school sports participation should be based on biological sex, and 66% agreed it is "only fair to restrict women’s sports to biological women."
Many Maine residents have even entire school districts have stood up against Mills' policies alongside Libby. Maine's school districts RSU No. 24 and MSAD No. 70 have each passed their own localized resolutions to keep girls' spots for female students only. There have also been three large-scale protests against the current policies in the state's capital city Augusta since February.
And Libby has had the support of the federal government along the way.
Just days before the decision, the DOJ filed an amicus brief on Libby's behalf to the Supreme Court, and Bondi spoke out in support of the embattled lawmaker to Fox News Digital.
"I am so thankful for Attorney General Pam Bondi's response," Libby said.
However, Libby's legal battle is not done yet.
The Supreme Court decision has granted her back her right to vote on the state house floor, but she still does not have the right to speak. Libby's case will now go back to the First Circuit Court of Appeals for oral arguments on June 5, as she will look to regain her voting rights.
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FILE -State Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, speaks with a colleague, Feb. 14, 2023, at the State House in Augusta, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
Additionally, Libby was not able to vote on several bills in the state legislature in the last three months during her censure. These included the state's bi-annual budget vote and a bill to codify the Maine Human Rights Act, which protects trans inclusion in girls' sports, into the state's constitution.
Libby said she believes the records should be reflected to include her vote on those bills as well, but does not yet know if she will be actively seeking to have those records changed legally yet.
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