On May 20, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a temporary injunction reinstating Maine State Representative Laurel Libby’s voting rights in the state legislature. This decision came after the Democratic-led Maine House censured Libby until she issued a public apology for her Facebook post fighting to keep women sports for women only. Libby refused to apologize for standing up for young athletes and filed a lawsuit asserting that the censure infringed on her First Amendment rights and disenfranchised her constituents.
Libby stated on X after her victory, “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.”
The Court granted the request without public comment. Justice Sonia Sotomayor said she would have denied the application. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented criticizing the decision as weakening the Court’s standards for emergency intervention. She objected to the Court’s increasing reliance on emergency rulings without full briefing or argument. Yet, she does so by minimizing the grave constitutional injury involved here. Apparently, she does not consider the disenfranchisement of a whole district in Maine “critical and exigent circumstances” necessitating the Court’s intervention.
Thankfully, seven members of the Court disagreed with her and put in place an injunction that will allow Rep. Libby to vote and be heard in representation of her constituents, while the case continues at the appellate level.
The controversy highlights ongoing debates over the participation of transgender athletes in women’s sports. Libby’s post went viral in February; in that post she identified a transgender high school athlete participating in a women’s track event. President Trump, who had signed an executive order earlier in February barring transgender girls and women from competing in sports teams that align with their gender identity, threatened to withhold federal funding from Maine if the state did not comply with the order. This led to a public confrontation between Trump and Maine Governor Janet Mills, who refused to comply with the order and challenged it in court.
Recently, Concerned Women for America CEO and President Penny Nance hosted Libby on the Women for America Podcast. To listen to that podcast, click here.
