On April 20, Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr was censured by Republican lawmakers for speaking up against a bill that seeks to ban gender-affirming care to transgender children. Those Republicans demanded Zephyr be silenced after she told them if they voted to deny the rights of transgender children, she hoped “the next time there’s an invocation, when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands.”
This was followed by a lot of hand-wringing from Montana lawmakers and whining about Zephyr’s comments being inappropriate and disrespectful, as well as demands for an apology. The same GOP lawmakers proceeded to purposefully misgender Zephyr and the Republican-led House chose not to recognize her to speak both Thursday and Friday. The Democratic minority stood both figuratively and literally with Zephyr, arguing that any disrespect Republicans perceived in Zephyr’s comments paled in comparison to the conservative disrespect aimed at the transgender community and the Montanans represented by the censured legislator.
Zephyr remained unrecognized by Republicans on Monday, when a very large crowd of protesters descended on Montana’s State Capitol building in Helena. With the crowd chanting, “Let her speak,” Zephyr stepped up to a makeshift podium. She told the crowd that after she heard the disparaging and dehumanizing language used by to debate the bill banning transgender care, she “Did what I’ve always done, which is stand up and speak. Pick my words with precision. Speak with clarity. And call out the harm that these bills do.”
RELATED STORY: You’d be surprised at how many trans teens stop gender-affirming health care as adults
