Montana House GOP votes to ban trans Democratic lawmaker from chamber

Republicans in Montana’s House of Representatives voted Wednesday to ban a Democratic transgender lawmaker from the chamber, following her support for protesters who shut down the body’s proceedings earlier in the week.

Rep. Zooey Zephyr of Missoula will still be allowed to vote remotely, but will not be allowed to access the House chamber, anteroom or gallery under the party-line, 68-32 vote taken by the House. Democrats were united against the motion, while Republicans all voted in favor.

Thom Bridge, Independent Record

Rep. Zooey Zephyr, D-Missoula, was expected to face a disciplinary vote from Republicans during Wednesday's floor session.

Republicans have criticized Zephyr’s actions during the protests on Monday, when activists filled the House gallery and interrupted proceedings on the floor with shouting and chanting in support of Zephyr, the first transgender woman elected to the state Legislature.

The rally and subsequent protest were held in response to Republicans in the House preventing Zephyr from speaking on the House floor for several days, after comments she made last week. The freshman lawmaker had told representatives a week ago they “should be ashamed” for voting in favor of a bill that would ban some gender-affirming care for transgender minors. She also told them they would have “blood on your hands” for doing so.

Montana Speaker of the House Rep. Matt Regier, of Kalispell, made the motion to ban Zephyr under a provision of the Montana Constitution that allows each house to “expel or punish a member for good cause shown with the concurrence of two-thirds of all its members.”

“She actively participated in disrupting the lawful activities of this Legislature,” Rep. David Bedey, a Hamilton Republican, said. “Such behavior must have consequences if we are to keep our processes in place.”

Zephyr remained defiant, being permitted for the first time in a week to address the House floor as she spoke against the motion.

“When I rose up and said there is ‘blood on your hands,’ I was not being hyperbolic,” she said. “I was speaking to the real consequences of the votes that we as legislators take in this body.”

Republican House Leadership said in a letter late Tuesday they planned “disciplinary consequences” against Zephyr after comments she made on the House floor last week.

In a debate April 18 over a bill that will block minors from accessing gender-affirming care, she told lawmakers if they voted for legislation to ban some gender-affirming care for minors, they “should be ashamed.” She also told them, “I hope the next time there’s an invocation when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands.”

Republicans have advanced several bills affecting trans people this session.

After Zephyr’s initial statements, the Freedom Caucus, a group of legislators farther to the right than the rest of the GOP, called for her censure in a statement that misgendered Zephyr.

THOM BRIDGE, Independent Record

Montana Speaker of the House Rep. Matt Regier, Kalispell, speaks at a press conference in the Montana State Capitol on Tuesday, the day after a protest in support of Rep. Zooey Zephyr, D-Missoula, interrupted the House of Representatives and resulted in arrests.

Since last week Regier has refused to acknowledge Zephyr or let her speak on the floor. His decisions have been upheld by most of the supermajority Republicans in the chamber and Regier has said he will not acknowledge Zephyr until she apologizes.

Zephyr had said she would not apologize. After Monday’s protest in which seven were charged with misdemeanor criminal trespassing, Zephyr again said she would not back down.

“As an elected representative, I am devoted to supporting those who speak in defense of democracy, as it is my duty to ensure their voices are heard and respected,” she said in a statement.

On Tuesday Regier canceled the House’s floor session and refused to take questions from reporters about why.

This story will be updated.