The Portland Press Herald published the same unredacted photo of a transgender-identifying male minor on Tuesday that they slammed Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) for posting, the same photo that led the Democrat Majority to strip her of her right to vote and speak on the House floor.
[RELATED: Rep. Libby Files Federal Lawsuit Against Speaker Fecteau for Violating Her Constitutional Rights…]
Rep. Libby posted a publicly available photo of a transgender-identifying minor standing victorious over girls at a high school pole vault competition in February, calling out the policies that continue to force female athletes to compete against males in high school sports in Maine. Those policy are in defiance of President Donald Trump’s executive order and Title IX.
Many on the left, from media outlets to politicians, castigated Libby, claiming that she was exploiting, endangering, and “doxxing” the minor, despite the photo being publicly available and Libby not including the minor’s address in any posts.
In response, House Speaker Ryan Fecteau (D-Biddeford) orchestrated a party-line censure vote. As a result, Libby has been deprived her of the right to vote or speak on the House floor. Under the conditions Fecteau imposed, Libby cannot vote or speak on the House floor until she offers a public apology that earns his approval.
Instead of apologizing, Libby — along with several of her constituents — filed a federal lawsuit against Speaker Fecteau on Tuesday, accusing him of violating her First Amendment rights and depriving her constituents of their right to vote.
Despite the ceremonious outrage from the left over Libby’s post, the Portland paper has now published the same uncensored photos of the minor in their Tuesday coverage of the lawsuit. Similarly, the Bangor Daily News published the unredacted image as part of their coverage of Libby’s lawsuit.
The unredacted image was included in both articles as part of the full text of the lawsuit attached to the articles.
After Libby made her post, the Portland Paper published an opinion piece titled “Our View: Rep. Libby Exhibits Ruthless Unprofessionalism.”
The paper’s editors harshly criticized Libby for publishing a picture of a minor, calling it “reprehensible” and accusing her of “exploiting” the transgender-identifying student.
“Rep. Libby should be capable of making her argument without exploiting a kid for the benefit of thousands of culture-war cheerleaders,” said the paper.
“To single out a minor for clicks in this way is reprehensible; an elected representative should know that,” they added.
The outlet failed to mention that the photo used by Libby was already publicly available on Facebook, along with several other pictures and videos of the public sporting event.
The Bangor Daily News also posted an uncensored picture of the minor in their coverage, though, unlike their Portland counterpart, they have not taken an editorial stance on the issue.
Though refraining from directly criticizing Libby, the Bangor paper’s coverage of the issue has amplified the voices of people critical of her post, such as Rep. David Boyer (R-Poland), who called it “cruel, callous, and reprehensible.”
They also declined to mention that the picture and images like it were already publicly available.
You can dislike her or her post, but you CANNOT disenfranchise her constituents. She has committed no crime. Take it up at the ballot box.
Libby is the only Maine Republican with a backbone. I hope she becomes a star.
Hmmmm … OK for me, but not for thee.
I read yesterday that the mother of this boy holds a position high in the court system. Laurel Libby never should have been censured by this government. How much power does his mommy have?
What better way to attack and destroy someone’s reputation. Can’t be afraid of being targeted in this state for being part of the global majority. How do LGBTQI etc. contribute to the future of our species? They do not.
When I was in jr high/HS we would take that thing out behind the backstopp and beat the confusion outta the schmuck. If HE wanted to pretend to be a “she” in their own home…..to each their own, but step outside. Freakin open season.
@Dale: So you advocate violence against people who are different. You choose to be stuck in the past.