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EXCLUSIVE: The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Attorney General Pam Bondi have come out in support of Maine state Rep. Laurel Libby as she seeks to have her censure in the state legislature overturned.
Libby has been censured since February after the state's Democrat majority voted to take away her voting and speaking rights for a social media post that identified a transgender high school athlete who won a girls' pole vault competition earlier that month.
Libby filed a lawsuit in response and is now looking for U.S. Supreme Court intervention after a district judge and the court of appeals ruled against her.
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The DOJ has now filed an amicus brief supporting Libby in her lawsuit, and Bondi has personally spoken out in support of the embattled Republican state representative.
"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. As our lawsuit against the state of Maine illustrates, we will always protect girls’ sports and girls’ spaces from radical gender ideology," Bondi told Fox News Digital.
The amicus brief argues that Libby's censure violates the Equal Protection Clause’s "one-person, one-vote" guarantee, as the state legislature withdrew her voting and speaking rights for a private act and offered to remove the censure if Libby apologizes.
"Stripping District 90’s voters of their house representation and vote because their chosen representative will not apologize for fulfilling this obligation is well beyond the bounds of an appropriate sanction," the document read.
DOJ Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon spoke out in support of Libby as well.
"The Maine House Speaker silenced Rep. Laurel Libby for refusing to apologize over her stance against male athletes in girls’ sports. This isn’t leadership, it’s unconstitutional. The Civil Rights Division stands ready to defend the rule of law," Dhillon told Fox News Digital.
Libby herself has insisted she will not apologize for the social media post and previously told Fox News Digital that no one from the trans athlete's family or high school reached out to her about the post. She has also argued the athlete was already publicized in other media. The Portland Press Herald published a recap of the event, mentioning the athlete, before Libby made her post.
Libby's lawsuit names Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau and House Clerk Robert Hunt as the defendants, and they are represented by Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey.
Fecteau, Hunt and Frey all defended the decision to censure Libby for the February post in their response last week.
"Like other censures of Maine House members, the censure resolution required Rep. Libby to apologize for her conduct—not recant her views. Rep. Libby has steadfastly refused to comply with this modest punishment, which is designed to restore the integrity and reputation of the body," the response read.
"Her refusal places her in breach of a centuries-old rule of the Maine House, Rule 401(11), that Rep. Libby previously agreed, along with all of her House colleagues, would govern House proceedings. Rule 401(11) provides that a member found by the body to be in breach of its rules may not participate in floor debates or vote on matters before the full House until they have 'made satisfaction,' i.e., here, apologized for their breach."
Maine's Democrats, led by Gov. Janet Mills, have fought unyieldingly to prevent President Donald Trump from enforcing his "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" in the state.
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Bondi and the DOJ are currently involved in a lawsuit against the state directly over the issue, and Libby was present at the press conference where the lawsuit was announced back in April.
A survey by the American Parents Coalition found that out of about 600 registered Maine voters, 63% said school sports participation should be based on biological sex, and 66% agreed it is "only fair to restrict women’s sports to biological women."
The poll also found that 60% of residents would support a ballot measure limiting participation in women’s and girls' sports to biological females. This included 64% of independents and 66% of parents with kids under age 18.
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Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.
