The U S Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a Maine state lawmaker who was barred from voting on legislation over a Facebook post sharing a picture of a trans-identified male athlete winning a women

The nation's top court on Tuesday ordered the Maine House of Representatives to restore the speaking and voting rights of Rep. Laurel Libby, a Republican lawmaker who was censured two months ago for a viral social media post identifying a transgender high school athlete.

The state’s attorney general had said such intervention by the justices would be unprecedented.

Trans athlete Soren Stark-Chessa finished first in the 1600-meter race at a recent track meet in Maine. Republican state representative Laurel Libby complained about Stark-Chessa’s win on a Fox News appearance, saying that trans athletes are “pushing many, many of our young women out of the way in their ascent to the podium”.