Montana House silences transgender lawmaker: What happened

Zooey Zephyr, a transgender Democrat lawmaker, has been barred from the House floor after she said her colleagues would have “blood on their hands” if they pass a bill restricting medical care for transgender youth

Written by Alind Chauhan

The Republican-controlled Montana House of Representatives voted on Wednesday (April 26) to block Zooey Zephyr, a transgender Democrat lawmaker, from the House floor for the rest of the 2023 session.

The move has come after she last week said lawmakers would have “blood on their hands” if they pass a proposed Bill restricting medical care for transgender youth in the state.

Her comments caused a furore among the Republican leaders of the House, who said the “language was belittling and an affront to civil discourse”, as per the Associated Press.

Before the Wednesday vote, Zephyr was barred by the GOP lawmakers from speaking during debates, which led to a huge protest in her support in the House on April 24. The demonstrators raised slogans such as “Let her speak” — seven of them were arrested by the police.

The harsh disciplinary action against Zephyr is the second recent case of Republicans using their supermajority in red states such as Montana to silence their opponents. Earlier this month, Tennessee Republicans expelled two African-American Democrat lawmakers from the House after they led protests on the legislature floor in favour of greater gun control. Both of them were later reinstated.

Moreover, the tussle between Zephyr and the GOP leaders is part of the current culture war going on across the United States over transgender rights. In recent years, Republican lawmakers of different states, including Kentucky, Kansas, Missouri, and North & South Dakota have tried to push legislatures, seeking to prevent trans persons from accessing healthcare, including gender-affirming surgeries and hormone therapy.

What happened in the Montana House?

According to the Associated Press, on April 18, as the Montana House was debating the state governor’s proposed amendments to a legislature banning gender-affirming care for minors, Zephyr registered her strong opposition to the Bill.

She said, “I hope the next time there’s an invocation, when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands”.

The House Speaker Leader Sue Vinton, a Republican, immediately condemned Zephyr’s remarks, saying they were inappropriate and disrespectful. The same day, the Montana Freedom Caucus, a group of 21 far-right lawmakers, accused her of “attempting to shame the Montana legislative body” by using “hateful rhetoric.,”” The New York Times reported. The group also deliberately referred to her using male pronouns (known as misgendering) in a letter and tweet.

In the following days, when Zephyr refused to apologise for her comments, the Republican lawmakers barred her from speaking on any Bill presented before the House, including environmental and economic measures, as well as transgender issues.

Tensions escalated on April 24 after a protest broke out inside the House in support of the Democrat leader. The GOP leaders claimed that Zephyr “incited” the crowd and said, “The only person who is silencing Representative Zephyr is Representative Zephyr.”

Two days later, the House voted 68-32 along party lines to censure her. Although Zephyr has been barred from the legislature floor, she can still cast votes during House proceedings for the remainder of the session but must do so remotely.

Speaking to the BBC after the Wednesday vote, Zephyr said she stood by her remarks and there was “blood on the legislature’s hands”.

“I wasn’t being hyperbolic,” Zephyr added. “When the speaker asks me to apologise for those remarks, what he’s actually asking me to do is to be silent as my community faces real harm and real dangers.”

Who is Zooey Zephyr?

Zephyr, 34, in November 2022 became the first openly transgender woman to be elected to the Montana Legislature. According to the AP, she belongs to a left-leaning town Missoula and has worked as a staffer at the University of Montana.

“She has spent much of her life advocating for LGBTQ+ rights and worked behind the scenes during the 2021 legislative session to help block efforts to ban gender-affirming health care.,” the news outlet said.

Since her election, Zephyr has been one of the strongest voices in the House against the Bills that curtail transgender rights.

What are the transgender Bills at the heart of the controversy?

There are ten Bills in the Montana state legislature this session which target transgender people. These include measures that would restrict minors from getting gender-affirming care and define sex in binary terms in the state law, which could limit legal protections for transgender people. “Another bill prohibits drag shows on any public property or places where minors are present.,” The Guardian reported.

In an interview published on April 26, the son of the Republican governor of Montana, Greg Gianforte, said he had met his father and asked him to reject these “immoral, unjust” Bills. David Gianforte identifies as non-binary and uses he and they pronouns.

The 32-year-old also told his father, “There are a lot of important issues passing through the legislature right now”.

“For my own sake I’ve chosen to focus primarily on transgender rights, as that would significantly directly affect a number of my friends.”

Notably, Montana is only one of several states in the US where lawmakers are considering a slew of new Bills on transgender issues. As per NYT, “This year, 11 states have passed laws prohibiting transition care for young people. Previously, just three state legislatures had enacted full or partial bans.”

Courtesy : TIE

Note: This news piece was originally published in theindianexpress.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights