If Maine Democrats and their left-wing NGO financiers can get you to believe that men can become women, they can get you to believe anything. They can get you to believe that minors can consent to life-altering surgeries when they can’t even legally consent to getting a tattoo. They can get you to believe that young men competing in young women’s sports is fair play and that it’s marching towards social justice, even as it tramples the hopes and dreams of female athletes. They get you to believe all of this through the mastery of word-smithing and narrative crafting.
Representative Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) shattered that narrative with the simple act of posting two photos next to each other on social media. The two photos showed a male finishing 3rd in the state pole vault championship last year in the Men’s Division and then the same male competing as a female in the Women’s Division this year and finishing first. The side-by-side pictures told a story that has played out many times across the nation over the past few years. Because Libby’s post has gone viral, Maine Democrats are now in damage control mode.
Rather than address the disparity in equity that the two photos show, Maine Democrats are now arguing that Libby must be punished for posting public pictures of minors without their consent. They are doing this to distract from the fact that the two photos side-by-side closed the argument about men playing in women’s sports without saying a word.
Speaker Ryan Fecteau even wrote a politically charged op-ed in the Bangor Daily News that stated:
“I think we can all agree that our kids deserve better than to be used as political fodder for internet bullies. It isn’t just cruel or mean-spirited to take advantage of a minor in this way. It can also be downright dangerous for the young person involved. It can impact their health and their safety, at school, and in their communities.”
This is straight out of the Democrat playbook for controlling the narrative. Be overtly political while name calling out your opponent for being overtly political, then shift into emotional blackmail so that any rebuttal from your opponent is framed as aggression towards children. The Speaker is the one who wrote and pushed a political narrative and had his friends at the dying BDN publish it, not Rep. Libby. There are also rumors that Fecteau and his Maine Democrat colleagues are planning to censure Libby this coming Tuesday for her sins against the prevailing narrative. If that is not politicizing an issue, I don’t know what is.
Speaker Fecteau also made sure to genuflect at the altar of identity politics when he writes in his BDN piece:
“To young people who are members of the LGBTQ+ community, know that I see you and I stand with you. And there are many other leaders in the Legislature who stand with you, too.”
This is a clear example in Maine politics of that famous line in Orwell’s Animal Farm that says:
“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
Clearly, in the Speaker’s opinion LGBTQ+ athletes are more equal than their competition who compete simply as young men and young women. Hard work, meritocracy and potential athletic scholarships for female athletes are being sacrificed for identity politics by the Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives and those other ‘leaders’ in the Legislature who are putting their far-left ideology over the opportunity for Maine’s young women to excel, succeed and play at the next level in their chosen sports against fair competition.
Mainers’ eyes have been opened after seeing the story told by the images Libby posted. The carefully crafted words of political operatives will not shut them again. The truth is plain to see for anyone not blinded by an almost religious devotion to a political ideology. It’s time to close this chapter of misguided history and have males compete against males and females compete against females again. The social engineering experiment is over, and the result is failure. We can see it with our own eyes.
The democrats in Augusta MUST BE DEFEATED in 2026 . All of them .
This is a perfect example of the reason why.
Let the Maine voters see and hear the lunacy of their Governor and Legislature .
ALL Maine voters need to send a message . Vote Republican in 2026 .
Laurel Libby and The Maine Wire deserve a vote of thanks for bringing this sordid episode to pictures and print . Democrats do not deserve our support .
And NOW they threaten to censure Ms Libby .
DISGRACEFUL.
Very Stupid . That is what they did to Trump. “There are also rumors that Fecteau and his Maine Democrat colleagues are planning to censure Libby this coming Tuesday”
What are Biddeford’s reading scores?
Is there some sort of a brain worm infecting the people of Maine ?
is there something in the water here ?
What on earth is going through their minds when they support the destruction of “ women’s “ sports in our schools ?
I am so completely disgusted with the Maine Teacher’s Association , the Maine Principles Association , and the Maine Legislature for not speaking out about this crazy “ trans – gender “ nonsense .
It should go without saying that the Governor is obviously unfit for her office .
What has happened to the sanity of the Maine people ?
It’s money- Maine Medical makes money mutilating children. The clinic in Bangor is worse.
Cry me a river dude lol. Go back and complain on Twitter some more.
If this is the HILL the dems want to die on, good luck. This mentality ill kid from Greely, his parents, and the school system should all be ASHAMED of themselves.
Laurel Libby has done a great job bringing attention to this. All of us with common sense who care about girls enough to want them to be able to compete in their own sports, love what Rep. Libby is doing. Greatly appreciated. The Dems are furious because they have all the attention on them. Womp womp, I hope you have fun in retirement once the state of Maine fires you 🫵👋
Great column. Very well put. I agree 100%
The Truth is Plain to See
I just can’t help but offer an alternate headline.
“Dude Wins Girls Pole Vault”
I am truly sorry for the young ladies, who now throughout the country have been denied over 900 titles. The poor girls were kept in the dark, not knowing until they got there they had to jump against a guy. What’s with that???
Pulling dirty tricks on your high school students???
Be Proud Maine, You are last in education in a country that has gone from first to last in education among developed countries. Quite an accomplishment.
“Maine Democrats are now arguing that Libby must be punished for posting public pictures of minors without their consent.” It’s commonplace for school sports to be filmed and photographed – maybe not in the BDN (the BDN having laid off its last staff photographer years ago), but in other media outlets sports youth are often photographed without any type of release. That implied consent goes along with competing in public sporting events.
You wanna see us in court Janet ? GOOD ….You go for it .
Every single parent of every single girl involved in school sports in Maine should sue Janet Mills and the State of Maine . Janet Mills and her Left Wing Democrats pundits CAN NOT discriminate against the female sex by allowing males to unfairly compete against them , dress and shower with them, and steal their recognition . Janet wants to see us in court ….LETS GO !
Truth to democrats is whatever they say it is.
“The issue is never the issue; the issue is always the [Marxist] revolution.”
The Trans bathroom and sports issue, the gay rights issue, the multiple pronoun issue, the men can have babies issue, the porn books in school libraries issue, the Drag Queen issue, the full-term abortion issue, etc. are all related to the destruction of the nuclear family. It’s the backbone of our society and the best way for the Left to dismantle our society to make way for their version of Utopia is to dismantle it.
Conservatives have been way too tolerant and the Marxists use that to push their warped agenda. F’ THEM!
We need to punish Laurel Libby said the demonrats yet again on the wrong side of a women/ girls issue. By all means make Libby in 26 supercharged, you f ing morons.
One correction: John finished 5th last year at the WMC and 10th at the class B state meet. Then he changed his name to Katie and suddenly he went undefeated all season. If he had competed with the boys he would have finished 10th again.
Maine Democrats should get out of their self-imposed bubble and not be criticizing Representative Laurel Libby for showing photos of this kid, whose name and photo are all over the national media. He’s John Rydzewski, who’s now calling himself “Katie Spencer”. Reportedly, two years ago, competing as a male, he placed 5th. By contrast, reportedly, this year, he would have tied for 10th place had he competed against his own sex. You can draw you own conclusions here.
So, it’s OK to post photos of minor students’ victories as long as they are not transgendered students “victories”? hmmm sounds rather “unfair” … If transgendered students don’t want to be in the public eye with thousands of cell phone photos going off in the free world, then I suggest they choose a solo sport or find a competition with other transgendered students.