Maine trans athlete battle: Laurel Libby talks Facebook post that started issue

A Feb. 17 Facebook post has become a catalyst for political history in Maine. And it could soon be the topic of Supreme Court testimony. 

That day, state Rep. Laurel Libby used the social media site to identify an athlete who had just rocked a high school track meet. The athlete took first place in girls’ pole vault Maine State Class B Championship, propelling Greely High School to a girls’ state title. 

It was already big local news, as the Portland Press Herald published a recap the same day Libby made the post, which also identified the athlete by name. 

But Libby’s post pointed out that the athlete finished fifth in a boys’ competition, just two years earlier. 

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“I had been talking with a mom, friend of mine, who has had a child in track in Maine for a long, long time,” Libby told Fox News Digital. 

“She told me there was a biological male who was probably going to win the girls’ state-wide pole vault championship, and sure enough, he did… I looked at the image of the second-place girls, and that’s who should have been in first place.” 

The post went viral and thrust Maine, Greely High School and the athlete into the bull’s-eye of the national trans athlete debate. 

Libby said no one from the school or the athlete’s family ever reached out to her about the post. 

“I never heard from them or the school,” Libby said. Fox News Digital has reached out to Greely High School for comment. 

The first person Libby says she heard from that took issue with her post was Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, who she is now suing for censuring her over the post.

“He found it objectionable and asked me to take it down, at the same time I asked him if he would support Maine girls, and support policy that stopped discrimination against Maine young women in sports and he declined to answer,” Libby said. 

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“The main criticism all along from the Democrats is that it was a picture of a minor.” 

Libby said families of other students at Greely High School have reached out to her as the issue has progressed. 

“[They] have encouraged me because they don’t agree with biological males participating in girls’ sports, and given their relationship with the school, they can’t say that publicly,” Libby said. “We’ve seen this become a big talking point in the Greely, Cumberland area.”

A survey by the American Parents Coalition found that about 63% of Maine voters said school sports participation should be based on biological sex, and 66% agreed it’s “only fair to restrict women’s sports to biological women.”

Greely’s District, MSAD #51, has previously provided a statement in support of its eligibility policies. 

“The MSAD #51 Board of Directors is guided by the Mission, Vision, and Core Values of our district. This includes promoting a safe, caring and ethical learning environment where each person will be treated with respect and fairness; and individuals are recognized, valued and supported,” the district said in a statement. 

Libby’s post came during a holiday week off. When students returned the following week, they were greeted by police protection in response to the national scrutiny Libby’s posts drew to the school. 

“I think law enforcement exorcised an abundance of caution, and thankfully there was no risk to the students,” Libby said. 

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Now, two and a half months later, the state is in a conflict with the federal government over the issue of trans athletes in girls’ sports, while Libby is making a case for Supreme Court intervention in her lawsuit against Fecteau. 

Fecteau and Maine’s Democrat majority censured Libby for the post on Feb. 25, and originally offered to restore her voting and speaking rights if she apologized for the post. But Libby told them right away she wouldn’t apologize. 

“The real reason I was censured is in political retaliation for pointing out a policy that most Mainers do not agree with,” Libby said. 

Instead, she filed her lawsuit against Fecteau on March 11.

But Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Melissa DuBose ruled against Libby in her case on April 22. DuBose, appointed by former President Joe Biden in January, ended up presiding over the case after every district judge in Maine refused to take it.

Judges John C. Nivison, John A. Woodcock, Lance E. Walker, Karen F. Wolf, Stacey D. Neumann and Nancy Torresen signed recusal orders shortly after the case was initially filed. No reason was given.

DuBose ended up with the case, and ruled in favor of Fecteau. Then, the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals also ruled against Libby.

This past Monday, Libby announced she would appeal to the Supreme Court for emergency intervention. 

“We haven’t fully had our day in court yet, I look forward to continuing that process,” Libby said when asked if she believes she’s had a fair trial.

Libby says she expects to hear if the Supreme Court will hear the case by Monday, May 5. 

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So far, the state representative has visibly had the federal government on her side, especially President Donald Trump’s administration. 

The U.S. Justice Department announced a lawsuit against the state of Maine for its continued defiance of Trump’s executive order to keep biological males out of girls’ and women’s sports and violations of Title IX. Libby attended the press conference alongside Attorney General Pam Bondi and Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon. 

The Department of Agriculture cut federal funding to the state, which then sued the administration. A federal judge has already ruled the funding must be unfrozen. 

Internally, many Mainers have already taken steps to align themselves with Libby and Trump’s side on the issue. There have been two large-scale protests in the state’s capital of Augusta, and one school district in the state, MSAD #70, is already moving to institute its own policy to ban trans athletes from girls’ sports. 

Now, Libby’s SCOTUS appeal will come as the tension between the state and Trump intensifies. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt referenced “prosecutions” as a consequence for violating federal law while discussing the administration’s intentions on the issue.

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“When Maine decided not to follow [Trump’s executive order], the Department of Justice sued them. So anyone who disobeys federal law will be prosecuted, sued, or say ‘goodbye’ to your federal funding,” Leavitt told reporters at a press conference Monday. 

Libby did not rule out prosecution as a warranted response if her state continues to defy Trump on the issue. 

“We’ve seen so much occur in the last two months, that we certainly can’t rule anything out,” Libby said when asked about potential prosecution to officials in her state. 

“I hope that it wouldn’t come to that. I would hope we can all agree that our young women shouldn’t be discriminated against.” 

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