GOP Lawmakers Are Silencing Montana's First Out Trans Lawmaker
GOP politicians in Montana aren’t allowing the state’s first openly transgender representative to speak about bills on the House floor for the rest of this year’s legislative session—after she spoke out against a bill that bans gender-affirming care for minors, saying those who voted for it would have “blood on their hands.”
“If you vote yes on this bill and yes on these amendments I hope the next time there’s an invocation, when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands,” Zooey Zephyr, a Democrat representing Missoula and outspoken champion of trans rights, said on Tuesday during the debate on the House floor. She added that the gender-affirming care ban is “tantamount to torture.”
What ensued were repeated GOP-led attempts this week to silence the first term representative. On Tuesday, House Majority Leader Sue Vinton called Zephyr’s comments inappropriate, before the deeply conservative Montana Freedom Caucus called for Zephyr’s “immediate censure.” The Caucus deliberately misgendered her in their public statement while, ironically, calling for “civil discourse.”
Efforts to block Zephyr’s participation continued Thursday when she tried to debate yet another anti-trans bill, Senate Bill 458, which narrowly defines sex based on whether a person produces sperm or eggs. But instead of calling on her to speak, House Speaker Matt Regier, a Republican, ignored her. When Zephyr’s fellow Democrat, House Minority Leader Kim Abbott, asked why Zephyr wasn’t recognized, Regier said he had the right as house speaker to disallow representatives from speaking, citing legislative rules. He also said “multiple discussions” with other lawmakers led to his decision. The House Rules committee ultimately backed Regier’s decision on a party-line vote, despite Democrat opposition.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3wdjw/montana-republicans-prevent-trans-lawmaker-from-speaking
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