March 11, 2025 • 28 mins
In this episode, Lisa and Maine State Representative Laurel Libby discuss the controversy over transgender athletes in women's sports in Maine. Libby shares her opposition to biological males competing in women's sports, detailing the backlash she faced, including being censured and losing her voting rights. She emphasizes the unfairness of the policy and the broader trend of silencing dissent. The Truth with Lisa Boothe is part of the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Podcast Network - new episodes debut every Tuesday & Thursday.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
So the state of Maine has become ground zero in
the fight to keep men out of women's sports. The state,
especially the governor there, Janet Mills, has defied President Trump's
executive order regarding Title nine to do just that to
keep men out of women's sports. And we saw this
disagreement really escalate during a recent White House meeting with governors.
(00:23):
President Trump specifically called out Mills for what she's doing,
what the state of Maine is doing, and in response,
the governor said this, I'll see you in court now.
The state's being investigated, and well, things are going down.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
So to speak.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
But one state representative is taking a strong stance in
support of women, in support of what President Trump is doing,
and as a result, the Democrat controlled the House centered
her for calling out a high school male athlete who
transitioned to compete in the girls pull vault this year
as a result of switching over to women's sports. Well,
(01:00):
guess what, he won the Class B state championship. So
what she did, what her next guest did, is she
posted about it.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
That's all she did.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
She posted her social media saying this is wrong, calling
out the fact that switching to women's sports helped this
young man win, that's all she did. And as a result,
she's had her voting rights revoked by the Democrats in
the state House.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
So we'll hear her perspective.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
On this issue, why she refuses to back down, she's
doubling down, and we'll talk about her state being ground
zero and all of this. Where does this go politically electorally,
particularly looking ahead at the midterms, So stay tuned for
Maine State Representative Laurel Libby. Well, Representative Libby, it's great
(01:52):
to have you on the show. I've been following your
story and I also saw that you opposed to vaccine
laws and mask mandates, so I was like, I need
to get her own the show. So I can't wait
to dig into everything that's happening in your state, and
you know what you've been through recently.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
So I just really appreciate you making the time.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Absolutely, Thanks so much for having me on. Yeah, we
have a long history of tyranny. There's all kinds of
stuff we could talk about regarding me.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
It sounds fun there, I'm sure fun in parentheses. Right.
All right, Well, let's start at the beginning. So Maine's
Democrat controlled the House. They voted to censure you and
strip you of your voting rates. Why let's start from
the beginning, give us the backstory.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Yeah, so, about a month ago now, President Trump issued
an executive order that biological males could not participate in girls' sports,
common sense policy finally being implemented. But the powers that
be in Maine, namely the Main Principles Association, came out
several days later and said, we are not going to
(02:56):
abide by this EO. We are going to con you
with our policy that allows biological males to participate in girls' sports.
And so I shared that information online and a couple
folks reached out to me and said, you know, there
is a biological male who is probably going to win
a girl's pole vault championship here in our state in
(03:19):
a couple of weeks. And so sure enough he did,
and that night that he won the girls state championship
for pole vault in Maine. I posted side by side
images of this young man the previous year pole vaulting
as a male, standing on the podium in fifth place
(03:40):
at a regional meet, and then that night's photo standing
at the top of the podium with the first place win.
As competing supposedly as a girl. And that post, of
course sent shock waves not just across main but across
the country. And the Democrats in Maine decided to censure me,
(04:07):
as you say, silence my voice and my vote, as
they said, because I posted photos of a minor. But
we all know the real reason is they don't want
to talk about this policy because of how unpopular it.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Is well and the irony is.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
So they voted to you know, revoke your voting rights
in the House.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
And then the Democrats speaker.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Ended up deleting his exico after trying to silence you.
So you know, kind of hilaria is that in an
effort to silence you, he ended up silencing himself, I
would presume because of the backlash he was receiving.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Yeah, a tremendous backlash folks. You know, looking at the
big picture, folks don't support biological males and girls sports,
and so you know, folks reacted strongly and in defense
of girls, in defensive women's rights in our state. And
so then and you have a speaker who silenced a
woman for speaking up for girls.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
That was very.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Unpopular, again, not among the Democrat majority in Augusta, but
certainly among my fellow manors who have been speaking up
vigorously in my defense.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
And what sort of reaction have you seen.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
I saw inline that it looked like there was a
rally in supportive keeping men.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Out of women's sports.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
It looked like there was you know, there were hundreds
of people there kind of walk us through what's happened.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Since this has all gone down.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
The best thing to happen out of this has been
seeing folks speak up. That's really been remarkable. There was
a rally on March first, and folks flocked to Augusta
by the hundreds to protest Governor Male's stance on this
policy and legislative Democrats, and to support females in girls
sports and to support the removal of biological males from
(06:00):
girls sports. This is not an isolated incident. There are
other biological males participating in girls sports in Maine, but
this is the first time we've seen people really speaking
up in mass about it, and that's really encouraging to me.
We also saw some young ladies from Maine high school
students who have been affected in one way or another
(06:21):
by biological males participating in girls sports. Travel to Washington,
d C. To speak up. There, they met with ag
Bondie and a number of other ages to highlight what's
going on in our state. And you know, I'm hopeful
because there are so many folks now speaking up that
we'll see resolution to this, whether that comes from the
(06:42):
federal government or state, which I think federal is more likely.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
And it means really pretty radical. I mean it is
radical on some of these issues. I mean, the state
has a shield law that protects transgender healthcare provider providers
providing transgender surgeries from civil or criminal challenges from other states.
Also allow sixteen and seventeen year olds to receive transgender care,
(07:12):
including hormone therapy, without parental consent in some states. So
I mean the state is radical on this. Where do
you think that the people come down on it in
the state.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Well, that's really that's really the important question, Lisa, and
I think we're seeing that as main people wake up
to what's going on, they don't support this radical agenda.
And you know, just looking at girls' sports for a minute,
I think the reason that that image that I shared
(07:45):
was so was took off as it did was because
it was that it was a picture and here in
our state, we've been told for a long time, you know,
it's not happening. There aren't biological males taking girls places.
Is you're making a big deal out of nothing. This
is a nothing burger and just shut up about it.
(08:07):
And that image showed that that's simply not true. And
I think it's helping to highlight some of the other
areas where our state policies do not align with main people.
We don't align with the woke policies that have been
passed over the last couple of years. But it's it's
(08:27):
been done quietly and kind of insidiously without drawing a
lot of attention to it, enabled by mainstream media's you know,
complicitness in it. And so now mein people are kind
of waking up to what's going on in our state,
and I would say that they are displeased. They are
(08:48):
not in agreement, and so hopefully the Democrats are going
to face a reckoning.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
You know, I mean, this is an eighty twenty issue,
at least, the issue.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Of keeping men out of women's sports.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Why do you think Democrats keep taking the twenty percent
on this issue?
Speaker 3 (09:04):
You know, I don't know one factor certainly is that
that minority position is. It's a very loud minority. They
are extremely vocal, and you got a lot of folks
in that eighty percent who simply want to live their
lives and be left alone. But they do certainly respond
to the injustice of seeing a boy take a girl's
(09:25):
place on a podium and in sports. But I think
that that very vocal but small minority has convinced people
that they're a larger number and a mightier number than
they are. And I think in our case here in Maine,
the Democrat majority, a slim majority, I'll tell you, needs
(09:46):
to be reminded that that vocal minority is indeed the minority,
and the majority of people won't stand for this kind
of woke policy.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
You know, it's interesting because I'm sure you saw that
Democratic rep Representative Jared Golden has flip flopped on this issue.
You know, he's previously voted to allow men and women's sports,
and then in a recent interview he said in public
schools in Maine, biological boys shouldn't compete in sports against
(10:16):
biological girls. Obviously, the midterms are coming up. Trump won
his President Trump won his district. In the past election.
You know, the governor is also up for re election.
Why do you think Representative Golden is changing his tune
and how do you think this will all play out electorally?
Speaker 3 (10:32):
Interstate Representative Golden, Jared Golden does a brilliant job of
walking this very fine middle line where he's convinced people
he's just your you know, your average manor just like you,
when really, you know, for the vast majority of time
he's voting with the Democrats in GC. But he covers
(10:54):
that well and in this case, he understands that where
public sentiment lies in our state, and that is not
to allow biological males and girls sports. Now he has
I don't believe he has voted the right way in DC.
So he's talking the right message, but I don't think
his votes aligned with that. And he says that the
(11:14):
reason for that is that this is a state's issue
and it shouldn't be handled at the federal level. But that's,
you know, that's just passing the buck, where he is
on the record voting wrong and main people don't align
with his position.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
We've got more of Representative Libby. But first, after more
than a year of war, terror and pain in Israel.
All of Israel is broken hearted after learning of the
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The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews has supported and
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(11:56):
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Speaker 2 (12:08):
But the real work is just beginning.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
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(12:31):
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Speaker 2 (12:34):
I f CJ. Why did you decide to double down?
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Because I believe they told you, Hey, look, if you
take this down, you know you can vote again. But
you know you said, you know, the hell with it, right,
I'm not doing that, So why'd you decide to double down?
Speaker 3 (12:54):
You know, people responded to the truth, and the truth
is they are biological males participating girls' sports. In my
original post, I simply stated that John had won fifth
place previously and now one first place. As Katie. It
was the truth, and people are tired of having the
(13:16):
truth obfuscated and hidden away, and they want the people
who are supposed leaders to be standing up and not
backing down just because of a bully or a tyrant,
says do x y or Z. And so I won't
apologize for speaking the truth. That's all I did. I
spoke the truth. I said what is actually going on
(13:39):
in our state, and the Democrat majority in the Speaker
don't like the truth being highlighted. And so yes, they've
given me the option that I can apologize and I
can have my vote back, but I won't apologize for
speaking the truth.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
And now there are questions if what they did is
constitutional or not.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Where do you come down on that? And you know,
is it was it?
Speaker 3 (14:04):
I don't believe that this is constitutional for the speaker
to take my vote in my voice. I think it's
an end run around the constitution, which requires two thirds
of my colleagues to vote for my expulsion, and they
know they don't have two thirds, and so they've tried
to do this instead. So I'll have an update for
folks later on today information regarding challenge challenging that in
(14:26):
the courts.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
That's been like for you? I would I would assume
that you probably have gotten some I mean, obviously a
lot of support, and I know your social media has grown,
you know, tremendously as a result of people following your
story and what you're doing and taking you know, taking
action and standing firm in that. But you know you've
(14:48):
also gotten negative comments, maybe even death threats. I'm sure
it's been interesting in the House. So what's this been
like for you?
Speaker 3 (14:57):
You know, walking back in there a week after being
censured was kind of surreal. It's a weird phenomenon to
walk into the House chamber, sit in my seat and
know that I will not be allowed to vote or
speak on behalf of my constituents. I have nine thousand
folks in my district who, as of right now, their
(15:18):
will is not allowed to be expressed. I was elected
to represent my district, and so it's been a really
strange feeling. Of course, there are folks who who are
not happy about my stance. I've heard from folks on
both sides of the aisle. I would say that breakdown
is around where you find polling that eighty twenty or
(15:41):
even higher towards the ninety ten, with folks who are
cheering me on, yes, continue on, please don't back down, Laurel,
don't apologize, stand your ground, and then folks who are
unhappy about the posts that I made on the other
side of that. I'm encouraged for the future of our
state through seeing the response, in part because I'm seeing
(16:04):
young people stepping up and speaking up. Shortly after this
all occurred, there were some school board meetings where young
people spoke up and spoke out on this policy that
I think, you know, people have been fearful to tackle,
and so I'm thankful that that's part of the outcome,
(16:28):
and I'm really thankful to have had a part in that.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
No, it's interesting because they say that you know, you
docksed this man, this young man, but you know when
you went to state championship like that, Like I played
sports in high school. When you win a state championship
like that, those pictures end up in newspapers and online.
You know, like that, it's sort of a ridiculous accusation
for them to make.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
And not only that, you know you've got the nature
where it's a public event. You make the choice to
step up on a public podium. Aren't you proud if
you win a state championship? Isn't this something to be celebrated?
Pictures similar to those that I posted have been posted
in the celebratory context, right saying yay for this biological
(17:18):
male who's breaking barriers and winning in the girls category.
They've been posted in major newspapers and online. But because
my post got a negative reaction from folks who were
seeing the reality for the first time, it's not acceptable.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
How do you think we got to this place?
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Because even looking back, like ten fifteen years ago, I
would never in a millionaires think how pek would have
to be concerned about men taking titles and championships away
from women and pretending they're women.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
So how do you think we got here as a society?
Speaker 3 (17:58):
I think silences consent and you have that small but
very vocal minority who's making a lot of noise and
convincing people that they better be quiet, sit down, take
a back seat, not make waves. And when we're silent,
those of us who hold the common sense view that
(18:18):
biology matters and biological males should not be participating in girls' sports.
If if we sit down and are silent, well, then
that's policy that's going to stand. It's incumbent upon us.
And that's another reason that I won't apologize. It's incumbent
upon us to speak up, speak up for the truth.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
We've got to take a quick commercial break. More on
all of this on the other side, don't miss it.
What do you make of this argument? So what the left,
what they'll say is they'll be like, oh, it's just
you know, as you pointed out previously, they're like, oh,
we're not saying instances of this happening.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Or they'll make oh, it's just a handful of people.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
We even saw Charlie Baker, the NC double A and
President not too long ago to Congress say oh, there's
only like ten cases of this happening up. So they
try to downplay the numbers. So what would you say
in response to that, Oh, you know, representative, it's just
a few different cases. It's not that big of a deal.
Why are you making such a big deal out of it?
Speaker 3 (19:17):
A couple of responses I could give to that. One is,
of course, whatever the number is now, I think it's
likely to grow. But the other answer is, how dare
you minimize the effect on others? When you look at
the girls standing in second place on that podium, they
(19:38):
worked hard for years, They worked hard for years to
get where they are, to achieve what they've achieved, and
their first first place prize has been stolen by a
biological male? How dare we give credence to an argument
that would allow for any number of females to be
(20:02):
displaced by a biological male. That is, it's unacceptable, whether
it's one or one thousand. When I think about the
ways that women have struggled and fought in very recent history.
I gave an example in the floor speech I attempted
to give about the first woman to run the Boston
(20:25):
Marathon that was in the nineteen set. It was either
the late nineteen sixties or early nineteen seventies, and that
woman was tackled by the race director and he tried
to force her off the course of the Boston Marathon
because women were not allowed to run, and now fifty
years later, we would cheer on a biological male taking
(20:49):
the place of a woman in her rightful place atop
that podium. It is unconscionable that we adults would allow
that to happen to our girls who worked so hard
and and have rights that should be upheld.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
And we've also seen some of these young women get
injured by men and women's sports as well. You know,
Peyton McNabb, who attended the joint address that President Trump
gave to Congress UH was partially paralyzed by a man
and in high school volleyball, or you know, there's a
Massachusetts field hockey player who had her teeth knocked out
as a result of a man. So you know, sadly,
(21:27):
we're putting these young women's lives in danger, you know,
and obviously that's concerning absolutely.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
There's a mom who reached out to me after all
of this went public and she wanted to tell me
about her daughter's case. I don't have permission to tell
the full story publicly yet, and that's one of the
reasons I think that we we see this still going on.
(21:55):
They don't they're not comfortable speaking up yet, and I
understand that because the opposition can be fierce that small
but vocal minority. But her daughter received such a significant
concussion from being attacked on the field of play by
a biological male that she was in and out of
school for the next three months and she still has
(22:17):
long standing repercussions. Meanwhile, the male never even in a
case where it had been a female who did the same,
they would have been red carded and out of the game.
They never had any repercussions whatsoever, despite the fact that
they injured this girl so badly that she went down
and could not get back up.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
I mean, I played field hockey and high school, and
you know I got hit in the.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Head with the field hockey ball, and.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Well one it almost hit me in the temple in
one instance. The other dropped down. I hit me in
my forehead. I dropped down two black ice for an
excited period of time. It took me to the ground.
That's how hard I was hit. So I can't imagine
having that ball hit me with any additional force as
a result of a man. I mean, that would put
you in the hospital. That's something that could could kill
(23:06):
you to be honest. So it really is dangerous what
they're doing. Now, this isn't the first time you've been
punished by the speaker. You were also punished during COVID.
Tell us about that story and what happened there.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
Yeah, this is kind of round to Lisa. During COVID, Maine,
Maine had some pretty tyrannical policies by this same governor,
and the same speaker was in power in the House.
And so after a year and a half of a
mask mandate, statewide mask mandate, our governor lifted the mask mandate,
(23:43):
but the Speaker insisted that that mask mandate stay in
place for the State House. So main people did not
have to wear a mask any longer throughout the state,
but they did if they wanted to competition their government
in the state House. So I and five other reps
we walked into the Statehouse without masks the following Monday,
(24:07):
and I was promptly stripped of my committee by this
same speaker. So this is, as I said, this is
round two. But you know what, tyrants need a tyrants
need a challenge and need to be need to be
held accountable for what they do. And here in Maine,
(24:28):
we have a long history of tyranny under the current
governor and Democrat majority, and they need to be held
accountable for it.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Well, I'm sensing a pattern with you, But you're my
kind of girls.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
I like.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Standing up for you know what is right, very boldly.
So why did you get into all this to begin with?
Your mother of five, your small business owner, registered nurse.
You know, why did you want to get into politics?
Speaker 2 (24:51):
It's a messy business.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
Yeah, it is a messy business. Boy, you learn how
messy it is a few years into it. You know.
I was born and raised here in and I love
our state. The negative things that have been brought to
light recently, whether it's the interactions between our governor and
the president and woke policies, notwithstanding, Maine is incredible states beautiful,
(25:14):
The people are wonderful, independent minded folks. I could go
on and on about how amazing our state is. But
one day back in twenty nineteen, my husband and I
kind of woke up out of a decade of parenting
and said, gosh, our state looks a lot different than
it did when we were growing up. What is going on?
(25:35):
So we started getting involved. The following year realized that
I was going to have to run for state Rep.
Because my state Rep kept voting wrong. So I ran
against a two term Democrat incumbent and booted her out,
took that seat, and this is now my third term.
And I wouldn't say that we have any less tyranny
(25:56):
yet in Maine, but we certainly are a heck of
a lot closer to gaining a conservative majority. And I
think what gives me the most hope is that I
think folks are really waking up to what is actually
going on in our state. Everybody has that awakening that
I had at a different point, and once we hit
critical mass, I think we're going to see a big
change in our state because the vast majority folks don't
(26:19):
support the agenda that Governor Mills and the Democrats in
the State House are advancing.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Before we go, Is there anything I missed in the
conversation about what's happened in Maine and what's happened with
your case.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
I just would emphasize that the genesis of this was
speaking up for girls whose rights in our state are
being infringed. And I don't know if that fix is
going to come at the federal level, or if there
will be a little bit of common sense to come
by way of constituents pushing the House and the Senate
(26:54):
to change our policies. But one way or another, we
need to ensure that we are successful in changing changing
how girls and boys compete in our state. Now, biological
males are no longer allowed to take the place of
our young ladies, and so I encourage folks, whether you're
in Maine or any other state out there, to continue
(27:17):
speaking up. It's the only way we'll see change, whether
it's in Maine, California, or anywhere in between.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
I honorresent, believe in that, and we need bold people
like you standing up to make a difference. So Representative
Laurrea Libby, thank you so much for making the time.
Appreciate what you're doing. We'll continue to follow your story. Also,
where can people follow you?
Speaker 3 (27:35):
Yeah, folks can find me on x on Facebook or
at my website Laurelibby dot com.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
All right, well, thank you so much. We appreciate your time.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Thank you, guys.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
That was Maine State.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Representative Laurel Libby. We appreciate her time. We appreciate your
time at home for listening every Tuesday and Thursday. But
you can listen throughout the week until next time
So the state of Maine has become ground zero in
the fight to keep men out of women's sports. The state,
especially the governor there, Janet Mills, has defied President Trump's
executive order regarding Title nine to do just that to
keep men out of women's sports. And we saw this
disagreement really escalate during a recent White House meeting with governors.
(00:23):
President Trump specifically called out Mills for what she's doing,
what the state of Maine is doing, and in response,
the governor said this, I'll see you in court now.
The state's being investigated, and well, things are going down.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
So to speak.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
But one state representative is taking a strong stance in
support of women, in support of what President Trump is doing,
and as a result, the Democrat controlled the House centered
her for calling out a high school male athlete who
transitioned to compete in the girls pull vault this year
as a result of switching over to women's sports. Well,
(01:00):
guess what, he won the Class B state championship. So
what she did, what her next guest did, is she
posted about it.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
That's all she did.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
She posted her social media saying this is wrong, calling
out the fact that switching to women's sports helped this
young man win, that's all she did. And as a result,
she's had her voting rights revoked by the Democrats in
the state House.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
So we'll hear her perspective.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
On this issue, why she refuses to back down, she's
doubling down, and we'll talk about her state being ground
zero and all of this. Where does this go politically electorally,
particularly looking ahead at the midterms, So stay tuned for
Maine State Representative Laurel Libby. Well, Representative Libby, it's great
(01:52):
to have you on the show. I've been following your
story and I also saw that you opposed to vaccine
laws and mask mandates, so I was like, I need
to get her own the show. So I can't wait
to dig into everything that's happening in your state, and
you know what you've been through recently.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
So I just really appreciate you making the time.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Absolutely, Thanks so much for having me on. Yeah, we
have a long history of tyranny. There's all kinds of
stuff we could talk about regarding me.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
It sounds fun there, I'm sure fun in parentheses. Right.
All right, Well, let's start at the beginning. So Maine's
Democrat controlled the House. They voted to censure you and
strip you of your voting rates. Why let's start from
the beginning, give us the backstory.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Yeah, so, about a month ago now, President Trump issued
an executive order that biological males could not participate in girls' sports,
common sense policy finally being implemented. But the powers that
be in Maine, namely the Main Principles Association, came out
several days later and said, we are not going to
(02:56):
abide by this EO. We are going to con you
with our policy that allows biological males to participate in girls' sports.
And so I shared that information online and a couple
folks reached out to me and said, you know, there
is a biological male who is probably going to win
a girl's pole vault championship here in our state in
(03:19):
a couple of weeks. And so sure enough he did,
and that night that he won the girls state championship
for pole vault in Maine. I posted side by side
images of this young man the previous year pole vaulting
as a male, standing on the podium in fifth place
(03:40):
at a regional meet, and then that night's photo standing
at the top of the podium with the first place win.
As competing supposedly as a girl. And that post, of
course sent shock waves not just across main but across
the country. And the Democrats in Maine decided to censure me,
(04:07):
as you say, silence my voice and my vote, as
they said, because I posted photos of a minor. But
we all know the real reason is they don't want
to talk about this policy because of how unpopular it.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Is well and the irony is.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
So they voted to you know, revoke your voting rights
in the House.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
And then the Democrats speaker.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Ended up deleting his exico after trying to silence you.
So you know, kind of hilaria is that in an
effort to silence you, he ended up silencing himself, I
would presume because of the backlash he was receiving.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Yeah, a tremendous backlash folks. You know, looking at the
big picture, folks don't support biological males and girls sports,
and so you know, folks reacted strongly and in defense
of girls, in defensive women's rights in our state. And
so then and you have a speaker who silenced a
woman for speaking up for girls.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
That was very.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Unpopular, again, not among the Democrat majority in Augusta, but
certainly among my fellow manors who have been speaking up
vigorously in my defense.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
And what sort of reaction have you seen.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
I saw inline that it looked like there was a
rally in supportive keeping men.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Out of women's sports.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
It looked like there was you know, there were hundreds
of people there kind of walk us through what's happened.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Since this has all gone down.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
The best thing to happen out of this has been
seeing folks speak up. That's really been remarkable. There was
a rally on March first, and folks flocked to Augusta
by the hundreds to protest Governor Male's stance on this
policy and legislative Democrats, and to support females in girls
sports and to support the removal of biological males from
(06:00):
girls sports. This is not an isolated incident. There are
other biological males participating in girls sports in Maine, but
this is the first time we've seen people really speaking
up in mass about it, and that's really encouraging to me.
We also saw some young ladies from Maine high school
students who have been affected in one way or another
(06:21):
by biological males participating in girls sports. Travel to Washington,
d C. To speak up. There, they met with ag
Bondie and a number of other ages to highlight what's
going on in our state. And you know, I'm hopeful
because there are so many folks now speaking up that
we'll see resolution to this, whether that comes from the
(06:42):
federal government or state, which I think federal is more likely.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
And it means really pretty radical. I mean it is
radical on some of these issues. I mean, the state
has a shield law that protects transgender healthcare provider providers
providing transgender surgeries from civil or criminal challenges from other states.
Also allow sixteen and seventeen year olds to receive transgender care,
(07:12):
including hormone therapy, without parental consent in some states. So
I mean the state is radical on this. Where do
you think that the people come down on it in
the state.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Well, that's really that's really the important question, Lisa, and
I think we're seeing that as main people wake up
to what's going on, they don't support this radical agenda.
And you know, just looking at girls' sports for a minute,
I think the reason that that image that I shared
(07:45):
was so was took off as it did was because
it was that it was a picture and here in
our state, we've been told for a long time, you know,
it's not happening. There aren't biological males taking girls places.
Is you're making a big deal out of nothing. This
is a nothing burger and just shut up about it.
(08:07):
And that image showed that that's simply not true. And
I think it's helping to highlight some of the other
areas where our state policies do not align with main people.
We don't align with the woke policies that have been
passed over the last couple of years. But it's it's
(08:27):
been done quietly and kind of insidiously without drawing a
lot of attention to it, enabled by mainstream media's you know,
complicitness in it. And so now mein people are kind
of waking up to what's going on in our state,
and I would say that they are displeased. They are
(08:48):
not in agreement, and so hopefully the Democrats are going
to face a reckoning.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
You know, I mean, this is an eighty twenty issue,
at least, the issue.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Of keeping men out of women's sports.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Why do you think Democrats keep taking the twenty percent
on this issue?
Speaker 3 (09:04):
You know, I don't know one factor certainly is that
that minority position is. It's a very loud minority. They
are extremely vocal, and you got a lot of folks
in that eighty percent who simply want to live their
lives and be left alone. But they do certainly respond
to the injustice of seeing a boy take a girl's
(09:25):
place on a podium and in sports. But I think
that that very vocal but small minority has convinced people
that they're a larger number and a mightier number than
they are. And I think in our case here in Maine,
the Democrat majority, a slim majority, I'll tell you, needs
(09:46):
to be reminded that that vocal minority is indeed the minority,
and the majority of people won't stand for this kind
of woke policy.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
You know, it's interesting because I'm sure you saw that
Democratic rep Representative Jared Golden has flip flopped on this issue.
You know, he's previously voted to allow men and women's sports,
and then in a recent interview he said in public
schools in Maine, biological boys shouldn't compete in sports against
(10:16):
biological girls. Obviously, the midterms are coming up. Trump won
his President Trump won his district. In the past election.
You know, the governor is also up for re election.
Why do you think Representative Golden is changing his tune
and how do you think this will all play out electorally?
Speaker 3 (10:32):
Interstate Representative Golden, Jared Golden does a brilliant job of
walking this very fine middle line where he's convinced people
he's just your you know, your average manor just like you,
when really, you know, for the vast majority of time
he's voting with the Democrats in GC. But he covers
(10:54):
that well and in this case, he understands that where
public sentiment lies in our state, and that is not
to allow biological males and girls sports. Now he has
I don't believe he has voted the right way in DC.
So he's talking the right message, but I don't think
his votes aligned with that. And he says that the
(11:14):
reason for that is that this is a state's issue
and it shouldn't be handled at the federal level. But that's,
you know, that's just passing the buck, where he is
on the record voting wrong and main people don't align
with his position.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
We've got more of Representative Libby. But first, after more
than a year of war, terror and pain in Israel.
All of Israel is broken hearted after learning of the
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(11:56):
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in their families and to help those healing and rebuilding
their broken homes and broken bodies.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
But the real work is just beginning.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
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(12:31):
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Speaker 2 (12:34):
I f CJ. Why did you decide to double down?
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Because I believe they told you, Hey, look, if you
take this down, you know you can vote again. But
you know you said, you know, the hell with it, right,
I'm not doing that, So why'd you decide to double down?
Speaker 3 (12:54):
You know, people responded to the truth, and the truth
is they are biological males participating girls' sports. In my
original post, I simply stated that John had won fifth
place previously and now one first place. As Katie. It
was the truth, and people are tired of having the
(13:16):
truth obfuscated and hidden away, and they want the people
who are supposed leaders to be standing up and not
backing down just because of a bully or a tyrant,
says do x y or Z. And so I won't
apologize for speaking the truth. That's all I did. I
spoke the truth. I said what is actually going on
(13:39):
in our state, and the Democrat majority in the Speaker
don't like the truth being highlighted. And so yes, they've
given me the option that I can apologize and I
can have my vote back, but I won't apologize for
speaking the truth.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
And now there are questions if what they did is
constitutional or not.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Where do you come down on that? And you know,
is it was it?
Speaker 3 (14:04):
I don't believe that this is constitutional for the speaker
to take my vote in my voice. I think it's
an end run around the constitution, which requires two thirds
of my colleagues to vote for my expulsion, and they
know they don't have two thirds, and so they've tried
to do this instead. So I'll have an update for
folks later on today information regarding challenge challenging that in
(14:26):
the courts.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
That's been like for you? I would I would assume
that you probably have gotten some I mean, obviously a
lot of support, and I know your social media has grown,
you know, tremendously as a result of people following your
story and what you're doing and taking you know, taking
action and standing firm in that. But you know you've
(14:48):
also gotten negative comments, maybe even death threats. I'm sure
it's been interesting in the House. So what's this been
like for you?
Speaker 3 (14:57):
You know, walking back in there a week after being
censured was kind of surreal. It's a weird phenomenon to
walk into the House chamber, sit in my seat and
know that I will not be allowed to vote or
speak on behalf of my constituents. I have nine thousand
folks in my district who, as of right now, their
(15:18):
will is not allowed to be expressed. I was elected
to represent my district, and so it's been a really
strange feeling. Of course, there are folks who who are
not happy about my stance. I've heard from folks on
both sides of the aisle. I would say that breakdown
is around where you find polling that eighty twenty or
(15:41):
even higher towards the ninety ten, with folks who are
cheering me on, yes, continue on, please don't back down, Laurel,
don't apologize, stand your ground, and then folks who are
unhappy about the posts that I made on the other
side of that. I'm encouraged for the future of our
state through seeing the response, in part because I'm seeing
(16:04):
young people stepping up and speaking up. Shortly after this
all occurred, there were some school board meetings where young
people spoke up and spoke out on this policy that
I think, you know, people have been fearful to tackle,
and so I'm thankful that that's part of the outcome,
(16:28):
and I'm really thankful to have had a part in that.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
No, it's interesting because they say that you know, you
docksed this man, this young man, but you know when
you went to state championship like that, Like I played
sports in high school. When you win a state championship
like that, those pictures end up in newspapers and online.
You know, like that, it's sort of a ridiculous accusation
for them to make.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
And not only that, you know you've got the nature
where it's a public event. You make the choice to
step up on a public podium. Aren't you proud if
you win a state championship? Isn't this something to be celebrated?
Pictures similar to those that I posted have been posted
in the celebratory context, right saying yay for this biological
(17:18):
male who's breaking barriers and winning in the girls category.
They've been posted in major newspapers and online. But because
my post got a negative reaction from folks who were
seeing the reality for the first time, it's not acceptable.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
How do you think we got to this place?
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Because even looking back, like ten fifteen years ago, I
would never in a millionaires think how pek would have
to be concerned about men taking titles and championships away
from women and pretending they're women.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
So how do you think we got here as a society?
Speaker 3 (17:58):
I think silences consent and you have that small but
very vocal minority who's making a lot of noise and
convincing people that they better be quiet, sit down, take
a back seat, not make waves. And when we're silent,
those of us who hold the common sense view that
(18:18):
biology matters and biological males should not be participating in girls' sports.
If if we sit down and are silent, well, then
that's policy that's going to stand. It's incumbent upon us.
And that's another reason that I won't apologize. It's incumbent
upon us to speak up, speak up for the truth.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
We've got to take a quick commercial break. More on
all of this on the other side, don't miss it.
What do you make of this argument? So what the left,
what they'll say is they'll be like, oh, it's just
you know, as you pointed out previously, they're like, oh,
we're not saying instances of this happening.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Or they'll make oh, it's just a handful of people.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
We even saw Charlie Baker, the NC double A and
President not too long ago to Congress say oh, there's
only like ten cases of this happening up. So they
try to downplay the numbers. So what would you say
in response to that, Oh, you know, representative, it's just
a few different cases. It's not that big of a deal.
Why are you making such a big deal out of it?
Speaker 3 (19:17):
A couple of responses I could give to that. One is,
of course, whatever the number is now, I think it's
likely to grow. But the other answer is, how dare
you minimize the effect on others? When you look at
the girls standing in second place on that podium, they
(19:38):
worked hard for years, They worked hard for years to
get where they are, to achieve what they've achieved, and
their first first place prize has been stolen by a
biological male? How dare we give credence to an argument
that would allow for any number of females to be
(20:02):
displaced by a biological male. That is, it's unacceptable, whether
it's one or one thousand. When I think about the
ways that women have struggled and fought in very recent history.
I gave an example in the floor speech I attempted
to give about the first woman to run the Boston
(20:25):
Marathon that was in the nineteen set. It was either
the late nineteen sixties or early nineteen seventies, and that
woman was tackled by the race director and he tried
to force her off the course of the Boston Marathon
because women were not allowed to run, and now fifty
years later, we would cheer on a biological male taking
(20:49):
the place of a woman in her rightful place atop
that podium. It is unconscionable that we adults would allow
that to happen to our girls who worked so hard
and and have rights that should be upheld.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
And we've also seen some of these young women get
injured by men and women's sports as well. You know,
Peyton McNabb, who attended the joint address that President Trump
gave to Congress UH was partially paralyzed by a man
and in high school volleyball, or you know, there's a
Massachusetts field hockey player who had her teeth knocked out
as a result of a man. So you know, sadly,
(21:27):
we're putting these young women's lives in danger, you know,
and obviously that's concerning absolutely.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
There's a mom who reached out to me after all
of this went public and she wanted to tell me
about her daughter's case. I don't have permission to tell
the full story publicly yet, and that's one of the
reasons I think that we we see this still going on.
(21:55):
They don't they're not comfortable speaking up yet, and I
understand that because the opposition can be fierce that small
but vocal minority. But her daughter received such a significant
concussion from being attacked on the field of play by
a biological male that she was in and out of
school for the next three months and she still has
(22:17):
long standing repercussions. Meanwhile, the male never even in a
case where it had been a female who did the same,
they would have been red carded and out of the game.
They never had any repercussions whatsoever, despite the fact that
they injured this girl so badly that she went down
and could not get back up.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
I mean, I played field hockey and high school, and
you know I got hit in the.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Head with the field hockey ball, and.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Well one it almost hit me in the temple in
one instance. The other dropped down. I hit me in
my forehead. I dropped down two black ice for an
excited period of time. It took me to the ground.
That's how hard I was hit. So I can't imagine
having that ball hit me with any additional force as
a result of a man. I mean, that would put
you in the hospital. That's something that could could kill
(23:06):
you to be honest. So it really is dangerous what
they're doing. Now, this isn't the first time you've been
punished by the speaker. You were also punished during COVID.
Tell us about that story and what happened there.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
Yeah, this is kind of round to Lisa. During COVID, Maine,
Maine had some pretty tyrannical policies by this same governor,
and the same speaker was in power in the House.
And so after a year and a half of a
mask mandate, statewide mask mandate, our governor lifted the mask mandate,
(23:43):
but the Speaker insisted that that mask mandate stay in
place for the State House. So main people did not
have to wear a mask any longer throughout the state,
but they did if they wanted to competition their government
in the state House. So I and five other reps
we walked into the Statehouse without masks the following Monday,
(24:07):
and I was promptly stripped of my committee by this
same speaker. So this is, as I said, this is
round two. But you know what, tyrants need a tyrants
need a challenge and need to be need to be
held accountable for what they do. And here in Maine,
(24:28):
we have a long history of tyranny under the current
governor and Democrat majority, and they need to be held
accountable for it.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Well, I'm sensing a pattern with you, But you're my
kind of girls.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
I like.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Standing up for you know what is right, very boldly.
So why did you get into all this to begin with?
Your mother of five, your small business owner, registered nurse.
You know, why did you want to get into politics?
Speaker 2 (24:51):
It's a messy business.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
Yeah, it is a messy business. Boy, you learn how
messy it is a few years into it. You know.
I was born and raised here in and I love
our state. The negative things that have been brought to
light recently, whether it's the interactions between our governor and
the president and woke policies, notwithstanding, Maine is incredible states beautiful,
(25:14):
The people are wonderful, independent minded folks. I could go
on and on about how amazing our state is. But
one day back in twenty nineteen, my husband and I
kind of woke up out of a decade of parenting
and said, gosh, our state looks a lot different than
it did when we were growing up. What is going on?
(25:35):
So we started getting involved. The following year realized that
I was going to have to run for state Rep.
Because my state Rep kept voting wrong. So I ran
against a two term Democrat incumbent and booted her out,
took that seat, and this is now my third term.
And I wouldn't say that we have any less tyranny
(25:56):
yet in Maine, but we certainly are a heck of
a lot closer to gaining a conservative majority. And I
think what gives me the most hope is that I
think folks are really waking up to what is actually
going on in our state. Everybody has that awakening that
I had at a different point, and once we hit
critical mass, I think we're going to see a big
change in our state because the vast majority folks don't
(26:19):
support the agenda that Governor Mills and the Democrats in
the State House are advancing.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Before we go, Is there anything I missed in the
conversation about what's happened in Maine and what's happened with
your case.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
I just would emphasize that the genesis of this was
speaking up for girls whose rights in our state are
being infringed. And I don't know if that fix is
going to come at the federal level, or if there
will be a little bit of common sense to come
by way of constituents pushing the House and the Senate
(26:54):
to change our policies. But one way or another, we
need to ensure that we are successful in changing changing
how girls and boys compete in our state. Now, biological
males are no longer allowed to take the place of
our young ladies, and so I encourage folks, whether you're
in Maine or any other state out there, to continue
(27:17):
speaking up. It's the only way we'll see change, whether
it's in Maine, California, or anywhere in between.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
I honorresent, believe in that, and we need bold people
like you standing up to make a difference. So Representative
Laurrea Libby, thank you so much for making the time.
Appreciate what you're doing. We'll continue to follow your story. Also,
where can people follow you?
Speaker 3 (27:35):
Yeah, folks can find me on x on Facebook or
at my website Laurelibby dot com.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
All right, well, thank you so much. We appreciate your time.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Thank you, guys.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
That was Maine State.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Representative Laurel Libby. We appreciate her time. We appreciate your
time at home for listening every Tuesday and Thursday. But
you can listen throughout the week until next time
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