Transgender Montana Rep. Zooey Zephyr Sues Republicans Over Her Censure
The lawmaker is joined by the ACLU of Montana in seeking her reinstatement to the building.
May 1, 2023
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The lawmaker is joined by the ACLU of Montana in seeking her reinstatement to the building.
A judge has blocked a law that would have made it harder for trans residents to change the gender on their birth certificates, but the state still hasn't changed the process.
Montana courts overruled a trans health care ban in 2023, but it’s making a comeback.
The new rule mirrors an old rule which was defeated in court.
The ban violates the rights to privacy and free speech guaranteed by the Montana Constitution, and it amounts to discrimination based on viewpoint, Judge Jason Marks wrote.
The rule comes as LGBTQ+ rights groups sue Montana over another anti-trans rule made earlier this year.
A state district court granted a preliminary injunction blocking prohibitions on changes on the gender markers on driver's licenses and birth certificates.
Senate Bill 458 would define gender according to a person's reproductive capacities.
Judge Michael Moses said his earlier order to revert to a simple process to change the gender marker was "clear as a bell."
It “is unlikely to survive any level of constitutional review,” a state court judge wrote.
State officials are rejecting an order issued by a judge Thursday.
A measure that would have prohibited the transgender lawmaker from using the women's restroom failed in committee Tuesday, with even several Republicans voting against it.
Those who sued to challenge the ban are likely to succeed in proving it violates their privacy rights, the court ruled.
Trans state Rep. Zoey Zephyr hailed the order blocking House Bill 121, which codified male and female genders and banned trans folks from using "restrooms, changing rooms, and sleeping quarters" that aligned with their gender identity.
Republicans voted to bar Zephyr from speaking on the floor of the state legislature in 2023 after she said that conservatives' ban on gender-affirming care for youth would result in “blood on [their] hands.”
The Human Rights Campaign is calling on Gov. Greg Gianforte to veto these and other anti-LGBTQ+ measures.
Lawmakers banished their transgender colleague after she spoke out strongly against a ban on gender-affirming care.
State Rep. Zooey Zephyr had sued over being disciplined in the legislature after she called out GOP lawmakers for attacking gender-affirming care.