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. 

While Zephyr hasn’t formally been censured yet, Regier has said he won’t call on her in floor debate until she apologizes. 

“This decision is a direct assault on the principles of our democracy and serves to silence the voices of my community, as well as the 11,000 constituents I represent,” Zephyr said in a statement. “No amount of silencing tactics will deter me from standing up for the rights of the transgender community.” 

“I will not apologize for speaking with clarity and precision about the harm these bills cause,” she added. 

Montana is one of several states across the U.S. rapidly passing anti-trans bills. SB 458 passed this week, and the new definitions of sex are expected to be added to 40 sections of state law. The gender-affirming care ban, Senate Bill 99, is also progressing in both the state’s House and Senate, and it’s already received support from Gov. Greg Gianforte. 

Anti-trans bills aren’t based on science, and gender-affirming care is life-saving. Studies show that trans people are more likely to experience mental health struggles, including anxiety, depression, PTSD, and thoughts of suicide, than cisgender people. Nearly half of all LGBTQ youth have seriously considered suicide. But, experts say, some of these issues can be mitigated with gender-affirming care. These interventions are correlated with better mental health outcomes for trans people. 

Teens who are able to access gender-affirming care typically also have better mental health outcomes than trans people who have to wait until adulthood to transition. And medical consensus in the U.S.—like from the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Endocrine Society—is that gender-affirming care, which includes name changes, puberty blockers, and hormone replacement therapy, is safe, effective, and medically necessary. 

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