Rep. Laurel Libby was not asked to apologize for her views, she was asked to apologize for using photos of a named minor in a political posting. Libby was not censured for expressing her opinions, she was censured for inappropriately posting the name and picture of a transgender teenager. The school had to bring in extra security. There was real-world risk brought on by her social media post.

For months, I’ve been reading letters to the editor praising her for sticking to her guns. However, the only thing Libby was required to do was to apologize for her social media post. I’ve read letters saying it was unfair to leave the people she represents without a voice in government. However, that was Libby’s own fault, not that of the House speaker whom she sued.

In Maine, being censured can require an apology to the Legislature and the state. In this case, Libby refused to do so, which is elementary-school behavior. She was at fault, she had to apologize, and it would have been over relatively quickly, since a censure is generally deemed simply a slap on the wrist.

Libby’s constituents would have had their representative back with her full privileges had she simply followed the rules and apologized. Instead, she took the Washington example of lawsuits, foot-stomping and victim blaming. She often said she would not apologize for standing for Maine’s women and girls, yet that’s not what was asked of her. All Libby had to do was apologize for posting and refusing to take down said post attacking a transgender student-athlete.

Censures are a low-level punishment, yet instead of apologizing and moving on, Libby threw temper tantrums, filed lawsuits and watched money for her campaign pour in. Libby catapulted Maine and herself into the national headlines at the expense of many. She rose by tearing down trans kids and her first priority is clearly herself.

Mainers’ remaining faith in government was shaken, and Rep. Libby became a household name by refusing to abide by legitimate legal methods and showed that government procedures could be overruled by lawsuits and loudly speaking falsehoods. It’s doubtful many of us knew what censures were or how they worked before the Libby fiasco, but now most of us have heard about it and still very few know how they work.

Being censured does not mean one has to abandon one’s strongly held beliefs. Refusing to abide by set rules and being indulged in such sets a worrying precedent in already tumultuous times in government.

Rep. Laurel Libby is not a hero for Maine’s women and girls. Far from it. She used a national spotlight to double down on the already vulnerable population of transgender kids across the country, leading to the implication of another slew of hateful and exclusionary policies that not only harm trans kids, but cisgender girls as well.

The requirement for sports teams to be only male, female or mixed makes it impossible for a girl to participate on the boys’ team if their district is unable to have a female team, and if that’s the case she has nowhere to go. Districts being unable for whatever reason to have an available team for girls is a much more pervasive issue than our handful of trans kids being included.

There are real issues that affect Mainers. Attacking children isn’t helping to solve them.