Montana Republicans block GOP anti-drag bill after emotional debate
The measure, opposed by transgender state Rep. Zooey Zephyr, failed with a vote of 44 to 55.
March 7, 2025
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The measure, opposed by transgender state Rep. Zooey Zephyr, failed with a vote of 44 to 55.
Lawmakers banished their transgender colleague after she spoke out strongly against a ban on gender-affirming care.
Zephyr tells The Advocate about Republicans' Capitol Hill bathroom ban, the state of trans rights, and a new documentary about her censure, Seat 31: Zooey Zephyr.
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.”
Republicans in Montana are attracting the same scrutiny that Tennessee GOP lawmakers over protests in the Tennessee capitol.
These trans politicians are breaking barriers around the nation.
Denise Juneau, Montana's Superintendent of Public Instruction, is the first LGBT person in the state to run for federal office.
They voted to force the state’s only transgender legislator to conduct her work remotely.
The Montana House approved a bill restricting trans students' sports participation and voted down one banning transition care for minors.
The religious refusals bill is on its way to Gov. Greg Gianforte, while an anti-transgender sports bill may soon be.
Montana, Kentucky, and Idaho are among the latest states to move such legislation forward.
Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs says Greg Gianforte body-slammed him because he didn't like a question.
Bills aimed at keeping transgender girls and women off female interscholastic sports teams are moving forward in North Dakota, Mississippi, and Utah.
As the trans community faces discrimination and violence in the U.S., the question remains: should we stay and fight or flee before it's too late?
“There is this paradox where a majority of Americans voted for Trump, who is extremely anti-trans, and yet many Americans also voted for out transgender candidates and in favor of LGBTQ rights in referendums,” A4TE executive director Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen told The Advocate.
Read up on the queer candidates who ran for their political lives.
The lawmaker is joined by the ACLU of Montana in seeking her reinstatement to the building.
They represent more significant firsts for the LGBTQ+ community.
Republican leadership have silenced the lawmaker after she stood up for gender-affirming health care.