HELENA, Mont. – As Montana lawmakers entered the critical final days of their legislative session Thursday, one of the state’s lone transgender lawmakers, Zooey Zephyr, was left exiled from the House, watching the debate and voting on a laptop while he sat in a hallway. seat near the busy snack stand.
Although her Republican peers sought to isolate her after her passionate comments against a proposed ban on what doctors call gender-affirming medical care for children, Ms. . Zephyr says that he will not remain idle. He spent most of the day on the bench, working with headphones in his ears to block out the sound of chatting lobbyists, the hiss of a milk foamer and the sounds of lawmakers ordering coffee.
“I am here working for my constituents as much as I can given the undemocratic conditions,” said Ms. Zephyr on Twitter.
In a state that has long prided itself on independent thought, the free exchange of opinions and limited government, the decision to bar Ms. Zephyr from the floor of the House has become a clear illustration of how a state with a Democratic governor in 2020. Starting with a new Republican supermajority whose leadership seems determined to flex its muscles.
“I love this purple state where I grew up,” said Mallerie Stromswold, a former Republican lawmaker who left the Legislature earlier this year after she clashed with party leaders over a series of proposed bills. of transgender and closed-door meetings, he said, devolved into shouting and name-calling.
For decades, Montana voters have displayed an independent streak, often jumping between parties when voting. In 2004, the state voted George W. Bush, a Republican, for president by more than 20 percentage points while also electing a Democrat, Brian Schweitzer, to be governor.
But in recent years, as the state has experienced a surge of conservative transplants and joined an increasingly polarized national political debate, Republicans have steadily expanded their control, especially in rural Montana, which has always been the scene of political energy and competition.
“We’re losing our rural base,” said Bill Lombardi, a former aide to U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, the lone Democrat still holding statewide office in Montana. Mr. Tester is running for re-election in 2024.
Cyndi Baker, the chair of the Cascade County Republican Party, around Great Falls, said Montana voters embraced the GOP as the Democratic Party moved left, a move she said left moderate candidates already – stranded.
In his county, he said, Republicans used to consider it a victory to hold half of the area’s legislative seats. Today, every seat is held by a Republican; the county sheriff switched his affiliation from Democrat to Republican.
“To tell you the truth, it surprised even me, the scope of our victories,” said Ms. Baker.
Last year, Republicans won a supermajority in both houses of the Legislature, positioning Montana as a new front in the nation’s culture wars.
Missoula, the Western-chic college town represented by Ms. Zephyr, has become a beleaguered island of progressive politics, nurtured by a strong environmental movement and the intellectual ferment of the University of Montana. The city offers whitewater rafting through the surrounding Rattlesnake Mountains and craft breweries across a downtown with a rainbow crosswalk to celebrate the city’s acceptance of LGBTQ rights.
Ms. Zephyr was elected to the Legislature last year, campaigning on a platform that included advocating for the rights of marginalized people. He won with about 80 percent of the vote.
His entry into politics coincides with Republican moves to push a series of bills on transgender issues, similar to moves in a growing number of other states.
Earlier this month, as some of those bills moved toward passage in the state capital in Helena, Ms. Zephyr took to the House floor to tell colleagues that passing a bill that would ban hormone treatments and surgical care for transgender minors would be “akin to torture.” and would result in ” blood on your hands” to lawmakers who agreed to it.
House Republican leadership initially responded bluntly by refusing to recognize Ms. Zephyr on floor discussions. Members of the conservative Montana Freedom Caucus accused Ms. Zephyr was “standing in the middle of the floor urging an uprising” when his supporters, who protested noisily from the gallery, were ordered to disperse.
Then on Wednesday, citing ethics violations, Republicans voted to bar him from the chamber for the rest of the session, which is set to end next week.
Wednesday’s ejection vote sparked anger and confusion in Missoula, where a network of supporters of Ms. Zephyr began exchanging messages, trying to decide how to respond. A 24-hour protest event that will include a rally, a street party and a drag show is planned for Friday night.
Izzy Milch, 25, who has been living in Ms.’s district for a long time. Zephyr and campaigned for his election, said that Ms. Zephyr has an impressive command of policy and the ability to connect with his constituents. Mx. Milch, who uses they/them pronouns, said the legislative sanction is anti-democratic and against the state’s history.
“What I love about Montana is how we look out for our neighbors and take care of each other,” they said. “Beyond that, we don’t care about people’s private lives.”
Dan Hall, 62, a former Republican and current registered Democrat who has lived in the district for 40 years, said that even before Ms. Zephyr on the House floor, the State Legislature looks different this year under the new Republican supermajority.
“They want to tell people what their identity is,” he said. “They want to tell people who they can marry. They want to tell people where they can work. They get into all these private parts of people’s lives. And this is wrong. This is not who we are. “
Republican leaders say the issue with Ms. Zephyr is not about free speech, but the chaos that erupted when his supporters spoke loudly in the chambers of the House, chanting, “Let him speak” as Ms. Zephyr the microphone. His head to remove the cacophony. Police officers eventually cleared the room.
Steve Daines, Montana’s Republican US Senator, praised the Republican House leadership and law enforcement officials for their response.
“The spirit of debate is encouraged by our democracy – it’s about what makes our country great but there is a responsibility to be civil and avoid extreme rhetoric and violence,” he said on Twitter. “The endangerment of lawmakers and their staff is unacceptable.”
