Maine State Representative Laurel Libby, a Republican, was barred from voting on legislation over a Facebook post sharing a picture of a trans-identified male athlete winning a girls’ sports competition.
The Democrat controlled legislature censured her and took away her voting rights.
The U.S. Supreme Court, by a 7-2 vote, said that was wrong.
After the ruling, Libby said in a post on social media, “After 2+ months of being silenced for speaking up for Maine girls, I can once again vote on behalf of the people of House District 90.”
The state has feuded with the Trump administration over its executive order directing executive agencies to take “all appropriate action to protect all-female athletic opportunities” and promising to withdraw federal funds from schools that allow trans-identified males to compete in women’s sports.
The U.S. Department of Education‘s Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation into Maine earlier this year.
Several weeks later, the U.S. Department of Agriculture froze federal funds to Maine because the state allows trans-identified male athletes to compete in women’s sports. Earlier this month, the Trump administration agreed to unfreeze funds intended for Maine’s child nutrition program after the state filed a lawsuit.