Ryan Fecteau, the Democratic speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, deleted his X account early Thursday morning, just days after censuring Republican Rep. Laurel Libby. The Democratic majority censured Libby on Tuesday evening for a social media post that highlighted a transgender high school athlete winning a girls’ competition. The censure resolution passed with a 75-70 vote, stripping Libby of her speaking and voting privileges. Fecteau stated during a hearing that Libby’s rights would only be restored if she issued an apology, which she refused to do that night. Libby later noted Fecteau’s account deactivation in a post on X, saying, “Apparently Maine’s Speaker of the House didn’t like hearing the voices of the people. … State House Speaker Ryan Fecteau has deleted his X account less than 48 hours after the Democrat Majority’s attempt to cancel me,” accompanied by a screenshot of his deleted account page.
Fecteau has kept his Facebook and Bluesky accounts active but has not commented on the situation with Libby or the deactivation of his X account. His posts on those platforms have been inundated with criticism regarding his decision to censure Libby. One user commented on Fecteau’s latest Facebook post, calling him a “coward” and accusing him of silencing a representative for expressing her constituents’ concerns. Fecteau has been serving as Maine’s speaker of the House since 2020, becoming the youngest active state speaker in the U.S. at age 28 and the first openly gay person to hold the position in Maine.
The censure of Libby was based on her social media post, which identified a minor by name and included a photo. In her post, Libby pointed out that a transgender track and field athlete had won first place at a Maine girls’ pole vault competition after previously competing as a boy. Libby remarked, “It’s a remarkable double standard as there are public photos of this individual in many places on social media and even some posted by his school. This post went viral, but this was an individual who participated in a public event, who publicly stood on a podium and accepted a championship medal that rightfully belonged to the girls standing in second place.