Rep. Zooey Zephyr, a Missoula Democrat and one of Montana’s first transgender lawmakers, was barred from speaking on a bill to define sex in law during a House floor debate on April 20, 2023.
Shaylee Ragar/Montana Public Radio
Shaylee Ragar/Montana Public Radio
HELENA, Mont. – Republicans, who dominate the Montana House of Representatives, have voted Wednesday to formally punish Democratic Rep. Zooey Zephyr.
Zephyr, who is transgender, has been blocked from speaking since last week when she told supporters of a bill to ban gender-affirming care for minors that when they bowed their heads to pray she hoped they would see “blood on [their] hands.” She was alluding to studies that show that transgender health care can reduce suicidality in youth.
The formal punishment decided Wednesday bans Zephyr from attending or speaking during floor sessions. She will only be allowed to vote remotely in the remaining days of the legislative session. It’s a lesser punishment than expulsion, which was also on the table, according to House leadership.
“If you use decorum to silence people who hold you accountable, all you are doing is using decorum as a tool of oppression,” Zephyr said during the debate Wednesday.
The Montana controversy comes about three weeks after the Tennessee House voted to expel state Reps. Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson for using a megaphone on the floor during a gun reform protest. Both Jones and Pearson were reinstated by local councils shortly after.
The background
The tension in the Montana House has been building for a while. Zephyr said she ran for office after Republican lawmakers passed legislation restricting the rights of transgender Montanans in 2021.
Now in office, she’s taken a very strong stance against bills to ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors, to ban minors from attending drag shows and to define sex as binary in state code.
Monday, seven people were arrested during a demonstration in the House gallery in protest of Zephyr being blocked from speaking for three consecutive days. Republican leaders condemned the events as “a riot.”
Speaker of the House Matt Regier says Zephyr violated the rules of the chamber during the debate over a bill to ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors. He said she would be blocked from speaking on the floor unless she apologized.
Zephyr says she stands by her comments. In a notice, Republican leaders cited the section of the Montana Constitution that gives authority to the Legislature to “expel or punish a member for good cause” with a two-thirds majority vote. Republicans hold such a supermajority in the House.
House Minority Leader Kim Abbott says her caucus will hold Republicans accountable for their “anti-democratic agenda.” The public gallery was closed for Wednesday’s proceedings.
Members are still under a tight deadline. Montana’s Constitution says it must adjourn in a matter of days, and they’ve yet to finish piecing together a budget, typically their most important task.