MONTANA TRANSGENDER LAWMAKER SILENCED AGAIN, BACKERS PROTEST
HELENA, Mont. — Montana Republicans persisted in forbidding Democratic transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr from participating in debate for a second week and her supporters brought the House session to a halt Monday — chanting “Let her speak!” from the gallery before they were escorted out.
Zephyr defiantly hoisted her microphone into the air as her supporters interrupted proceedings for nearly half an hour in protest of Republicans denying her requests to speak on a proposal that would restrict when children can change the names and pronouns they use in school and require parental consent.
The interruption — hours after supporters rallied on the Capitol steps — was the latest development in a standoff over Zephyr’s remarks against lawmakers who support a ban on gender-affirming care for minors. Zephyr, a first-term Democrat from Missoula, hasn’t spoken on the Statehouse floor since last Tuesday when she told Republican colleagues they would have “blood on their hands” if they banned gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth.
Law enforcement escorted Zephyr’s supporters from the gallery above the House floor, including several by force. Seven were arrested for criminal trespass, the sheriff said. They were going to be booked and released.
The disruption drew the ire of Republican leaders, who described it as a “riot” and an “insurrection.”
Leaders cut the sound on the video feed, and Zephyr remained on the floor holding her microphone as supporters also chanted “Whose House? Our House!” The sergeantat-arms asked Zephyr to help settle things down — a request he said she rebuffed.
Zephyr did not return to the floor after lawmakers reconvened. She told The Associated Press she was headed to the county jail with the protesters who were arrested. She tweeted that she went there to show “support for those who were arrested defending democracy.”
Supporters of the ban saw Zephyr’s admonishment as unprecedented and personal, yet most have refrained from commenting publicly.
House leadership declined to comment to journalists Monday but released a statement saying they “condemn violence and will always stand for civil debate and respect for our processes of government.”