‘THE WRONG CHOICE’

Montana GOP Bars Trans Lawmaker From House Floor for Rest of 2023 Session

Rep. Zooey Zephyr will be barred from the House floor for the remainder of the legislative session.

Republicans in the Montana House of Representatives on Wednesday blocked the state’s first and only transgender lawmaker from the chamber for the remainder of the legislative session. It was the latest development in a days-long grudge match that began last week after she dared to warn colleagues they would have “blood on [their] hands” if they voted for a bill banning gender-affirming care for minors. Rep. Zooey Zephyr was barred from the House floor, as well as its anteroom and gallery, in a 68-32 vote that Minority Leader Democrat Rep. Kim Abbott called “the wrong choice.” She will only be allowed to cast votes remotely until the end of the legislative session, which will stretch into early May. After Zephyr’s impassioned April 18 remarks, she was repeatedly silenced on the House floor, with Speaker Matt Regier refusing to recognize her during debate, including on a number of proposals affecting transgender youth in Montana. On Monday, outrage over the continuing gag order briefly boiled over, with seven arrests made as officers in the gallery attempted to clear a crowd of Zephyr’s supporters chanting, “Let her speak!”