I live all the way across the country in Astoria, Oregon. I’m writing because someone shared a post from Rep. Laurel Libby, who had shared a recent photo of a high school student on Facebook.

This student is trans. Libby identified a high school student and exposed them to hate online. I came across it when a local resident shared the picture with slurs attached. On her original post there were more than 48,000 comments as of Feb. 20. Many of them spouting hateful rhetoric.

Is this who Maine elects? What sort of person would expose a high school student to national abuse? I could care less how others feel about trans people, but to have a state representative bully a student in their state because they disagree with their gender identity is beyond the pale.

Libby has a platform, and what she says can and will be amplified. I would expect that people in power would not abuse their office in such a regard, but here we are.

If Libby had any sense of decorum, decency or even basic empathy, she would reach out to this student and apologize.

Then she should make it her mission to do better.

I have never met anyone from Maine, but I would hope that if I do, they are a better representative than Mrs. Libby.

Justin Jackson, Astoria, Oregon