As debates on transgender issues engulf Montana’s legislature, the governor is facing lobbying from someone close to him: his son, who identifies as non-binary and pleaded with his father to reject what he called “immoral, unreasonable” bills supported by Republicans.
In an interview with The Montana Free Press published Wednesday, David Gianforte, who uses he and they as pronouns, said he sat down with his father, Gov. Greg Gianforte, a Republican, last month to prepare hand statement to read aloud.
David Gianforte, 32, told The Montana Free Press, a nonprofit news outlet, that he wrote why he believes bills gaining traction in the state Senate and House will harm the LGBTQ community, where he belongs.
On March 27, he began his meeting with Governor Gianforte and his top health adviser with an introduction to the family, according to The Free Press: “Hey Dad. Thanks for taking the time to meet with me.”
“There are a lot of important issues going through the legislature today,” David Gianforte told his father. “For my own good I chose to focus first on transgender rights, because that directly affects many of my friends.”
He argued that the bills — which would restrict transition care, define gender as binary and ban minors from attending drag shows — are a “violation of human rights.”
It is unclear what impact the governor’s meeting will have.
The Free Press also obtained an email between the governor and his son. “I want to better understand your thoughts and concerns,” Governor Gianforte wrote in one signed, “Love, Dad.” David Gianforte declined to comment Thursday. A spokesman for Governor Gianforte said in a statement that the governor “loves his family and values their thoughts, ideas, and perspectives,” and that his office does not discuss private family conversations. .
The report of the father-son encounter provides a rare snapshot of a family whose conflicted views on transgender bills are playing out across the state. It also underscores how personal such debates are, even in the Gianforte family, whose patriarch has appeared willing to support his Republican colleagues and sign the bills.
Montana is one of several states across the country where lawmakers are considering a raft of new bills on transgender issues. It includes measures that would limit transition care, define gender in binary terms and prohibit public school students from changing their pronouns without parental permission.
Montana’s legislation burst into the national consciousness during an escalating standoff between Republican lawmakers and a transgender representative over her statements in opposition to a bill that would ban transition care for minors.
On Wednesday, the state House of Representatives barred the lawmaker, Zooey Zephyr, from the floor of the House for the rest of the legislative session. He spent much of Thursday sitting outside the main chamber of the State House, removed from floor debate, but checking proceedings on his laptop.
This year, 11 states have passed laws banning transitional care for young people. So far, only three state legislatures have enacted full or partial bans. The barrage of state legislation is part of a long-term campaign by conservative organizations to use transgender issues as a way to motivate voters and raise money.
The efforts thrust the roughly 1.3 million US adults and 300,000 teenagers who identify as transgender into the center of one of the nation’s most heated political battles.
Conservative lawmakers across the country have described transition care as harmful and experimental, arguing that teenagers should not be allowed to begin medical transitions before they become adults. But major medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, support this care and say that banning it poses serious risks to the mental health of young people.
David Gianforte said in The Free Press interview that his father was thoughtful in their meeting, and that the governor listed the reasons for supporting the bills. His father, he said, was “concerned about his career” and “knew that staying in the governor’s position depended on him staying in favor with the Republican Party.”
However, David Gianforte appeared dismayed by his father’s actions, especially after Governor Gianforte wrote to lawmakers on April 17 explaining the changes to the bills.
The governor wrote that he met with transgender people and understood that “their struggles are real, and my heart goes out to them.” But the governor also noted that gender-affirming care is a misleading term and compared it to “Orwellian Newspeak.”
David Gianforte said he found his father’s letter “weird,” The Free Press reported.
“He’s talking about being kind to the kids, the youth of Montana, while simultaneously taking health care away from the youth of Montana,” he said. “It’s a contradiction in my mind.”
