The majority-Democrat Maine House of Representatives voted 75-70 to censure Republican Laurel Libby for sharing photos of underage pole vaulters to demonstrate that a recent ‘transgender’ winner gained a competitive edge by switching to the girls’ team.
AUGUSTA, Maine: The majority-Democrat Maine House of Representatives voted 75-70 on Tuesday evening to censure a Republican member for sharing photos of underage pole-vaulting athletes to demonstrate that a recent “transgender” winner gained a competitive edge by switching to the girls’ team.
On February 17, the Portland Press Herald reported that “Katie Spencer” won first place in the pole vault for Greely High School at last week’s Class B state championship meet. OutKick reported that Spencer is actually a male student named John Rydzewski, who last year competed as a male and tied for ninth place in the boys’ division. Pole vaulting coach Allen Cornwall told the outlet that he had attempted to warn officials about Spencer/Rydzewski’s participation, but “no one dares to address it.”
On February 17, state Rep. Laurel Libby posted about the situation on Facebook, including photos of Rydzewski as both a boy and a girl at the different events (Libby’s photos show the athlete tying for fifth, not ninth).
Despite the competition being a public event and mainstream media coverage like the Press Herald’s containing numerous photos of the student competitors, Maine Democrats decided that Libby’s use of event photos in a more critical manner was beyond the pale. The House voted in favor of a resolution censuring her for having “identified the student athlete by name and shared pictures showing the minor in an athletic uniform with the school name clearly legible and blurred the faces of other student athletes to protect their privacy, while intentionally and deliberately leaving the named student’s face exposed (…) without that minor’s consent, in an effort to advance her political agenda.”
The resolution further faulted her for refusing to take down the post when asked, accused her of violating a “basic tenet of politics and good moral character that children should not be targeted by adult politicians,” and claimed the school had to increase security as a result, amounting to an alleged violation of the Legislative Code of Ethics.
The Maine Morning Star reported that Libby refused to apologize on the House floor, instead having a contentious exchange on the floor with Democrat House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, who repeatedly faulted her for attempting a speech on the broader issue of transgender athletics rather than keeping her remarks confined to the Facebook post.
“This youth’s name and picture, similar to those used in her post, could be found easily with a simple Google search,” Republican state Rep. Jennifer Poirier said in her defense. “If Rep. Libby had posted the same picture, the same name with sentiments of congratulations, would we be here doing the censure right now? I think we know the answer to that.”
“This censure motion makes a mockery of the censure process,” Republican House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham added. “It sets a standard that says that the majority party, when they’re displeased with a social media post that upsets them, can censure a member of the minority party, and by a majority vote, censure them.”
.@GovJanetMills's campaign to cancel both girls' sports *and* anyone who speaks out against her radical agenda continues…
— Rep. Laurel Libby (@laurel_libby) February 26, 2025
Mandatory inclusion of gender-confused individuals in opposite-sex sports is promoted as a matter of “inclusivity,” but critics note that indulging “transgender” athletes undermines the original rational basis for having sex-specific athletics in the first place, thereby depriving female athletes of recognition and professional or academic opportunities.
There have been numerous high-profile examples in recent years of men winning women’s competitions, and research affirms that physiology gives males distinct athletic advantages that cannot be fully negated by hormone suppression.
In a 2019 paper published by the Journal of Medical Ethics, New Zealand researchers found that “healthy young men (do) not lose significant muscle mass (or power) when their circulating testosterone levels were reduced to (below International Olympic Committee guidelines) for 20 weeks,” and “indirect effects of testosterone” on factors such as bone structure, lung volume, and heart size “will not be altered by hormone therapy;” therefore, “the advantage to transwomen (biological men) afforded by the (International Olympic Committee) guidelines is an intolerable unfairness.”
Critics also argue that forcing girls to share intimate facilities such as bathrooms, showers, or changing areas with members of the opposite sex violates their privacy rights, subjects them to needless emotional stress, and gives potential male predators a viable pretext to enter female bathrooms or lockers by simply claiming transgender status.
Even the left-wing United Nations has acknowledged as much, via an October 2024 report by Special Rapporteur Reem Alsalem that found more than 600 female athletes around the world have lost more than 890 medals to men in 29 sports as of March 2024. “To avoid the loss of a fair opportunity, males must not compete in the female categories of sport,” the report concluded.
Last month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order requiring school athletic programs to limit female-specific teams to actual females in order to continue receiving Title IX funds. Maine was previously thrust into the spotlight of the issue when Trump told Maine Democratic Gov. Janet Mills at a White House event, “you better comply because otherwise you’re not getting any federal funding.” His Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights subsequently opened an investigation into Maine’s compliance with the administration’s take on Title IX, citing the Spencer/Rydzewski example.
