Supreme Court rules against Maine Democrats who shut down Republican's voting privileges over post about transgender athlete
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in favor of a Maine Republican state representative whose voting privileges were shut down after she posted a photograph of a transgender athlete on social media.
Democrats took away Rep. Laurel Libby's vote in the statehouse after the post she published in February showed the biologically male athlete competing as a male and then as a female.
'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.'
The highest court in the land ruled 7-2 in favor of an emergency appeal from Libby to allow her to regain her voting privileges without apologizing to the athlete. The justices offered no explanation for the decision.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented in the ruling.
Libby's post pointed out that the athlete had placed fifth in boys' pole vaulting but "propelled his school's girls' team to win the overall state championship" only one year later.
"The Maine Principals’ Association’s blatant disregard for federal rules means that deserving, BIOLOGICAL girls, have titles ripped away from them. This is outrageous, and unfair to the many female athletes who work every single day to succeed in their respective sports," Libby wrote.
Trans allies used a centuries-old rule in the statehouse to remove Libby's right to debate as well as to vote. They said that Libby needed to apologize to the transgender athlete to regain her privileges.
RELATED: Protests against Maine governor intensify after public feud with Trump over trans athletes
The Maine state Capitol building. Photo by UPI/Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
Justice Jackson said she dissented on the basis that the court was incentivizing the abuse of emergency relief grants and that it would lead to more misuse in the future.
Libby praised the ruling as a victory for free speech.
"This is a victory not just for my constituents, but for the Constitution itself. 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."
Others defended Libby on the same reasoning.
"FIRE supports Rep. Laurel Libby's appeal of her censure by the Maine Legislature, which prevents her from voting or speaking on the floor of the state's House of Representatives," read a statement from the civil rights group. "Maine's Democratic majority banned Rep. Libby from the floor because they didn't like her First Amendment-protected social media post on trans teens in female sports — a matter of intense public debate."
President Donald Trump had publicly confronted Maine's Democrat governor in March over the state's refusal to comply with his executive order against transgender athletes competing in girls' sports.
"You better comply — because otherwise you're not getting any federal funding," Trump said to Gov. Janet Mills.
"I'll see you in court," she responded.
"Good, I'll see you in court. I look forward to that. That should be a real easy one," he replied.
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Maine AG Asks SCOTUS To Keep Lawmaker Censured For Disagreeing With Trans Ideology
Judge Hearing Maine Censure Case Over Trans Athletes Is A Far-Left Activist
Safe spaces or speech traps? Unpacking the left’s ‘free speech’ ruse
Freedom of speech is essential to a free society, yet progressives have spent years distorting its meaning to mislead the public.
In a recent attack on the Trump administration, CBS host Margaret Brennan claimed that “weaponized” free speech caused the Holocaust. This dangerous misrepresentation of history ignores that the Nazi regime sought to suppress free speech, not promote it. Her remarks reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the First Amendment.
Courageous Americans must reject this twisted version of free speech and defend open dialogue — especially on college campuses.
Brennan is hardly alone, of course. Progressives have redefined free speech under the banner of tolerance, equality, and “safe spaces.” In practice, this has enabled targeted discrimination and harassment against those who oppose their political agenda. The result is widespread self-censorship and intellectual conformity.
Americans became accustomed to a dystopian reality, where praying in public, questioning the origin of COVID-19, and refusing to use someone’s preferred pronouns were labeled “dangerous” forms of speech that had to be silenced — sometimes even through violence.
With Donald Trump’s return to the White House, these restrictions are lifting. People are slowly readjusting to speaking freely without fear of government reprisal, cautiously voicing opinions once deemed off-limits. This newfound freedom is promising, but the fight against state censorship is far from over.
Meanwhile, university campuses are again in turmoil over the Israel-Palestine conflict. Activists have threatened Jewish students and occupied buildings, prompting administrators — mindful of the federal government’s new stance against such behavior — to crack down. Yet, protesters insist their actions are protected as “free speech.”
The same thing is taking place outside of schools, too. Consider the Maine legislature’s efforts to discipline state Representative Laurel Libby (R) — an elected official who had the audacity to question the continued presence of men in women’s sports in her district. For the crime of flagging such an incident on social media, Libby was censured by the legislature in a straight party-line vote — unable to vote on behalf of her constituents until she apologizes.
Remind me again which party poses a threat to democracy?
Liberals often resort to distorting the truth and rewriting history to justify their extreme measures. Margaret Brennan’s comments didn’t emerge out of nowhere; they reflect a broader progressive campaign for intellectual conformity through censorship, intimidation, violence, and revisionist history.
Benjamin Franklin warned in his Silence Dogood letters that “whoever would overthrow the Liberty of a Nation, must begin by subduing the Freeness of Speech.” Censorship remains the most direct path to tyranny.
Young adults are in a crucial stage of their lives — a time to develop resilience and critical thinking.
Courageous Americans must reject this twisted version of free speech and defend open dialogue — especially on college campuses, where future leaders are being force-fed a false narrative of their rights and pressured to stay silent. Students deserve better.
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