GOING BACKWARD

Montana Library Cancels Trans Speaker Over Draconian New Law

The cancellation came at the recommendation of county attorneys who felt the event could be perceived as illegal.

A library in Montana has canceled an event featuring a transgender speaker amid fears it would break a newly enacted law in the state that bans drag shows and other events put on by “flamboyant” performers. The Butte-Silver Bow Public Library said in a statement on its website that it had canceled the transgender history event with Adria Jawort at the recommendation of county attorneys. The shocking decision shows the wide-ranging effects the anti-trans legislation, passed last month, is having in Montana—not only sidelining trans performers and drag queens but potentially transgender voices entirely. If found to be in violation of the law, library officials said they would be at risk of losing public funding. Jawort testified against the bill before it passed, writing in a Twitter post on Thursday, “The irony is I testified against this bill saying it would target trans people that would include of course me. They denied it. Now here I am, targeted.”