AUGUSTA, Maine — Republicans in the Maine House of Representatives sidetracked Thursday’s debate over the state budget by unsuccessfully forcing a vote that would have overturned the censure of an outspoken lawmaker.
Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, has been unable to vote since Democrats who lead the chamber censured her last month for social media posts identifying a transgender student who won an indoor track and field title. The posts kicked off a battle between President Donald Trump and Maine over the state’s transgender athlete policies.
A House session on Thursday was mostly reserved for votes to advance a Democratic version of the two-year budget. The majority party was voting down a ream of Republican amendments, including several that Libby stood up to briefly present, when Libby’s colleagues forced a rules vote aiming to end the punishment. Democrats rejected it in a 74-68 vote.
The effort prompted a bitter debate between the parties that accentuated a divisive month in state politics. Tearing up at times, House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, quoted scripture and apologized to students at the school attended by the athlete, saying kids “should never be used as pawns or targets in a societal conflict waged by adults.”
“The vitriolic fever embraced by people on either side will only lead to mutually assured destruction,” he said.
Faulkingham attempted to speak on behalf of Libby, saying he had spoken to her and she wants the censure to end. Libby has been defiant in interviews and not deleted her post. Her refusal to apologize to the chamber led House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, to invoke a House rule barring her from speaking and voting. Libby sued Fecteau last week over that move.
Rep. Adam Lee, D-Auburn, thanked Faulkingham for his words and his citing of biblical scripture before saying he hopes Libby also considers a Book of Proverbs verse: “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”
Members continued to give dueling speeches that veered into other topics. Rep. Lucas Lanigan, R-Sanford, who has been indicted in a criminal case tied to him alleging assaulting his romantic partner last year, said “shame on all of us for playing judge, jury and executioner.”
“We’re no better than anybody else in Maine,” Lanigan said.
The dispute over Maine’s policies that allow transgender athletes to participate in girls’ sports has given Libby national and international news coverage. It has come with high stakes for the state, since six federal agencies have targeted or launched investigations into Maine and its schools after a sharp White House exchange between Trump and Gov. Janet Mills.
The Trump administration has swiftly determined the state’s education department, the association that oversees scholastic sports and a Cumberland high school is violating Title IX. It said Monday it is giving those entities 10 days to change policies or face the threat of litigation.
