Topline
Montana Rep. Zooey Zephyr (D) is suing the Republican House Speaker who led last week’s vote to ban Zephyr—the state’s first transgender lawmaker—from the floor of the state legislature for vocally opposing restrictions on gender-affirming care, arguing the effort violated her constitutional rights and those of her 11,000 constituents.
Zooey Zephyr speaks on the House floor for the first time in a week during a session at the Montana … [+]
Key Facts
Zephyr announced the lawsuit—which names the state of Montana, House Speaker Matt Regier (R) and House Sergeant of Arms Bradley Murfitt as defendants—on Twitter Monday morning, saying she’s “determined to defend the right of the people to have their voices heard.”
The suit comes days after the Republican-led House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted to ban Zephyr—the state’s first transgender lawmaker—from the House floor for the remainder of the legislative session after she participated in protests opposing a bill restricting gender-affirming care for minors.
Zephyr’s lawsuit argues the ban violated her right to free speech under the Montana state constitution by punishing her for “speaking on matters of public concern,” and alleges lawmakers discriminated against Zephyr based on political beliefs and denied her constituents their constitutional right to representation.
The lawsuit seeks to reverse the censure, which physically barred Zephyr from entering the Montana State Capitol or engaging in debate on bills, in time for her to weigh in on the state’s budget bill, which is set to be discussed this week.
The American Civil Liberties Union is working with Zephyr on the suit, and is planning to challenge the state bill preventing gender-affirming care that Zephyr and her supporters were originally protesting.
Forbes has reached out to Regier and the Montana Attorney General’s Office for comment.
Key Background
Earlier in April, Zephyr vocally opposed a House bill, which was signed into law last week, that prohibits gender-affirming care for transgender youth, saying lawmakers would have “blood” on their hands if they passed it, which led to Republican leaders ignoring her on the House floor. After Zephyr raised her microphone toward people chanting in support of her in the chambers, Republicans argued she had potentially “violated the rules, collective rights, safety, dignity, integrity, or decorum of the House of Representatives.” The vote to censure her came the next day and passed 68-32, and Zephyr—who can still vote but not debate or discuss—has been working from public seating since. Montana joins more than a dozen other GOP-led states that have restricted gender-affirming healthcare for children in recent months.
Crucial Quote
“This effort by House leadership to silence me and my constituents is a disturbing and terrifying affront to democracy itself,” said Zephyr in a statement with the ACLU. “House leadership explicitly and directly targeted me and my district because I dared to give voice to the values and needs of transgender people like myself.”
Tangent
Zephyr’s ban from the House floor came just weeks after two Tennessee lawmakers were expelled from the state House for their roles in a tense gun control protest in the Tennessee Capitol building. Tennessee’s Republican-controlled House voted to expel Reps. Justin Jones (D) and Justin Pearson (D), arguing they broke the body’s rules of decorum during a protest after the Covenant School shooting in Nashville that left six dead, though both lawmakers were later reinstated by local officials.
Further Reading
Montana House Bans Trans Lawmaker From Floor In Landslide Vote (Forbes)
Trans Montana Lawmaker Threatened With Censure Or Expulsion—Here’s What To Know (Forbes)
Montana Restricts Gender-Affirming Care—Here Are All The States With Similar Bans Or Restrictions (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mollybohannon/2023/05/01/trans-montana-lawmaker-zooey-zephyr-sues-state-for-banning-her-from-house-floor/