Montana transgender lawmaker faces GOP vote to be expelled or censured

Montana transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr could be expelled or censured by GOP - The Washington Post

Montana Republicans are planning a vote Wednesday to censure or expel a transgender Democratic lawmaker who has been silenced in the state House after criticizing GOP colleagues who support a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender children.

Since Zephyr said last week that those who support banning gender-affirming care for transgender children would have “blood on their hands,” Republican leaders have declined to recognize her on the floor and her microphone has been disabled when lawmakers have debated. In response, Zephyr and her supporters held a rally Monday that resulted in seven arrests and upended proceedings at the Capitol as people jammed inside the chamber and kept chanting, “Let her speak!”

The letter Zephyr received from three Republicans in the Montana House — Speaker Matt Regier, Speaker Pro Tem Rhonda Knudsen and Majority Leader Sue Vinton — says the chamber will determine whether Zephyr’s conduct Monday “violated the rules, collective rights, safety, dignity, integrity, or decorum of the House of Representatives,” and whether she should face any “disciplinary consequences for those actions.”

“I have been informed that during tomorrow’s floor session there will be a motion to either censure or expel me,” Zephyr tweeted Tuesday night. Zephyr added that she’s been told she’ll have a chance to speak in hope of staving off such action.

I have been informed that during tomorrow’s floor session there will be a motion to either censure or expel me.— Rep. Zooey Zephyr (@ZoAndBehold)

I've also been told I'll get a chance to speak. I will do as I have always done—rise on behalf of my constituents, in defense of my community, & for democracy itself. pic.twitter.com/8gD3UWPBkS April 26, 2023

Zephyr did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Wednesday. She told The Washington Post this week that she appreciated the protesters who were arrested for supporting her.

“I’m helping and supporting those who were arrested defending democracy,” she wrote in a text message.

Regier, Knudsen and Vinton did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Regier said in a Tuesday statement that all members of the Montana House are free to participate in debate as long as they are following the chamber’s rules. The speaker also claimed that Republicans were not silencing Zephyr.

“The choice to not follow House rules is one that Rep. Zephyr has made. The only person silencing Rep. Zephyr is Rep. Zephyr,” Regier said. “The Montana House will not be bullied. All 100 Representatives will be treated the same.”

The potential expulsion or censure of Zephyr comes weeks after similar actions taken by Republicans against Democrats in Tennessee and Texas. The Tennessee House unseated two Black Democratic lawmakers who had protested gun violence following a mass killing in a Nashville school. The Texas Republican Party censured U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Tex.) last month for breaking with the party by voting in favor of a bipartisan gun-control package and supporting same-sex marriage legislation.

Montana is among eight Republican-led states where bills have been proposed calling for the ban of gender-affirming care for transgender people. In Missouri, advocacy groups sued the state’s Republican attorney general as an “emergency rule” that will limit gender-affirming care for transgender adults and minors is expected to go into effect Thursday. A judge will hear the request from Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Missouri on Wednesday for a temporary restraining order against the regulation.

In Montana, Senate Bill 99, which has been dubbed the Youth Health Protection Act by Republican sponsors, would ban several critical types of gender-affirming care for transgender children, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgery to treat minors diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Treatments such as puberty blockers would still be available for cisgender children. If the bill is signed into law, health-care providers who administer those treatments to transgender minors could also face a year-long suspension and potential legal liability.

The bill would also prohibit the state’s Medicaid program from paying for any surgical procedures or medication needed for transgender children. The state health department said in January that Montana had spent nearly $1.4 million since 2015 to cover medical treatment for gender dysphoria for children, averaging about $173,000 a year, according to the Associated Press.

If it is signed into law by Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R), S.B. 99 would go into effect Oct. 1. The proposal has been met with pushback from some critics in the state, including Gianforte’s son, David, according to the Montana Free Press.

After the bill passed a final vote in the state Senate by a party-line decision of 32-17 on March 29, the proposal was sent back to the Montana House for debate on the proposed amendments from the governor. During debate on April 18, Zephyr, one of two transgender lawmakers in the 100-member Montana House, made an impassioned plea to her colleagues to reject the legislation.

“If you vote yes on this bill, I hope the next time there’s an invocation, when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands,” Zephyr said.

On the same day the bill’s proposed amendments were passed in the state Senate, the Montana Freedom Caucus, a bloc of 21 right-wing state legislators, said Zephyr’s comments amounted to “hateful rhetoric” and demanded her censure in a letter that called for a “commitment to civil discourse” while misgendering Zephyr.

While Zephyr was not immediately censured, Republican House leaders have declined to recognize her on the floor, and her microphone was disabled as other lawmakers debated. The move resulted in a chaotic scene Monday, in which protesters supporting Zephyr packed the House gallery and demanded that she be allowed to speak.

“It’s not enough for them to get the harmful bills through,” Zephyr said Monday in a speech outside the building. “When someone stands up and calls out their bills for the harm they cause, for the deaths they cause, they want silence. And we will not be complicit in our eradication.”

Seven protesters were arrested on misdemeanor charges of criminal trespassing and were released without bond, according to the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office. The Montana Freedom Caucus described the protest as an “insurrection” and called for “immediate disciplinary action” against Zephyr. U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) said it was the responsibility of Zephyr and other lawmakers “to be civil and to avoid extreme rhetoric and violence.”

The protest earned praise from Democrats this week, including Montana House Minority Leader Kim Abbott.

“To me, it’s an incredible statement in support of the trans, nonbinary and Two Spirit community — and against the Republican agenda that would strip our neighbors of their basic rights, dignity and humanity,” Abbott said in a statement.

Hours before a vote was expected on whether she is expelled or censured, Zephyr tweeted that she would continue to stand up for the transgender community and the children in need of gender-affirming care in Montana.

“I will do as I have always done — rise on behalf of my constituents, in defense of my community, & for democracy itself,” she wrote.

Casey Parks contributed to this report.