With a turnout estimated at over 500 Mainers, demonstrators gathered outside the State House in Augusta on Saturday to show their support for protecting girls in school sports from transgender athletes unfairly impacting the playing field, protestors and speakers at the event said.
“We will protect our girls and we will NOT back down!” Assistant House Minority Leader Katrina Smith (R-Palermo) said, explaining “They are the ones who have pushed their agenda on us and we have struggled to be heard … they have belittled biological facts and they have declared war on our girls,” referring to Democrats in the Blaine House, the state legislature, the Maine Department of Education and the Maine Principals’ Association, who have jointly defied an executive order from President Donald Trump to bar biological males from participating in girls’ sports.
“I have always been in support of the LGBTQ community,” Julia Dietrick, a figure skater who came to protest said, adding “I’ve always been here to support them, and I believe this movement is not about the LGBTQ community, it’s about supporting women, and I’m here to support other women.”
Saturday’s demonstration coincided with the first day (March 1) of Women’s History Month.
Momentum for the march grew last week after House Majority Leader Matt Moonen (D-Portland) censured Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) for posting on Facebook a publicly-available set of photographs showing the same athlete from Cumberland competing one years as a male and the next as a female, winning first place in the latter competition. The Democrat-controlled House moved on Tuesday by a party-line vote of 77-70 to strip Rep. Laurel of her voting and speaking privileges in the legislature.
After the censure, Libby joined X and quickly attracted over 50,000 followers, surpassing the audience on that channel of Governor Janet Mills (D) in a matter of days. Both the Boston Globe and the Wall Street Journal have since published editorials criticizing Libby’s censure.
A handful of counter-protestors tried to disrupt Saturday’s rally by beating on plastic tubs with sticks while another waved an upside-down American flag which he proceeded to trash against the ground, but those provocations failed to disrupt the unity of the event supporting girls in school sports.
In two weeks, a follow-up rally is planned also in Augusta on Saturday, March 15th where several state legislators, a prospective gubernatorial candidate and Maine Wire Editor-in-Chief Steve Robinson are scheduled to speak.
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