“Trans Democrat Elected in Montana Barred from State Legislature in Anti-LGBTQ+ Vote”

The decision is punitive and violent. Zooey Zephyr, a trans Democrat elected in Montana, is now barred from sitting in the state legislature. Censorship defended by the Republicans, the majority in the chamber, who voted Wednesday, April 26 in this direction. 68 votes to exclude Zooey Zéphyr, against 32 votes against. The count is not surprising, and illustrates the marked political divisions within the country: all elected Republicans voted in favor of this measure, while all Democrats opposed it. They invoke non-compliance with the rules of the institution, believing that the elected official would have endangered them by supporting a peaceful demonstration which was held in front of the Montana capitol.

From now on, Zooey Zephyr, the first openly trans woman to sit in this state, will no longer be able to sit or enter the entire Assembly. He only has the possibility of exercising his right to vote, but only remotely. And this until May 5, which marks the end of the parliamentary session. A far from subtle way of condemning the Democrat to silence, whose speaking out in defense of LGBTQI + rights earned her pressure and threats from her Republican counterparts.

The decision was taken under the dismay of the American LGBTQI + community, which has been suffering for months from a virulent offensive carried out by the right. Bills aimed at reducing – or even eliminating – their rights explode in 2023: this year alone, 11 states have passed legislation banning gender transitional care for minors.

«Let her speak»

Back to the moment of the vote, in the Legislative Assembly of Montana. What is reproached to Zooey Zephyr? Rep. Sue Vinton’s version: “On Monday, this House saw one of its members engage in behavior that disrupted and disturbed the proper functioning of this chamber […] and endangered lawmakers […] Our voters and our state deserve better.” What Zooey Zephyr did? On April 24, the elected Democrat expressed her support for the citizens who came to demonstrate peacefully on the balcony of the Montana Legislative Assembly. They were denouncing the House’s decision to bar Zooey Zephyr from speaking in the House, soon after she opposed a transphobic bill. In their hands, signs, some covered with the words «Let hear speak [Laissez-la parler, ndlr]».

After hearing Republicans unpack why she should be banned from sitting, Zooey Zephyr speaks out. For the first time in a week, the chosen one stands up in front of the room, microphone in hand. Five minutes to tell the whole story: “When the president of the chamber asks me to apologize […], what he really asks of me is to remain silent when my community faces laws that kill us; He asks me to be complicit in the eradication of our community by this legislature […] I refuse to do it, and I always will refuse it.

Blood on the hands

Since taking office, Zooey Zephyr has strongly opposed several LGBTQIphobic bills, such as banning drag-queen performances for minors but also the inclusion of sexual binarity in the state code. More recently, she had expressed her deep disagreement with a bill to ban gender transitional care for minors in Montana, discussed on April 18 in the assembly. “This room should be ashamed, she reacted to the microphone. If you vote for this law and these amendments, I hope the next time you bow your head in prayer, you will see the blood on your hands.” A speech that she supported in particular “studies showing that access to transitional care for trans people can significantly reduce the risk of suicide, particularly among the youngest». These remarks had earned her the first pressure from the Republican majority in the chamber: she had then been asked to apologize, something she had refused. Zooey Zephyr was then banned from speaking in the hemicycle.

On the occasion of her last speech before her exclusion, Wednesday April 26, she again refused to withdraw her remarks: “I spoke about the suffering caused by these laws and which I myself had experienced, I have friends who committed suicide because of this”, insists Zooey Zephyr before mentioning “a family in Montana whose trans teenager tried to kill himself while watching a hearing for one of these anti-trans laws”.

In a statement released shortly after the vote, Kelly Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, one of the largest LGBTQI + rights groups in the United States, placed the decision in context, saying that it “is part of a deeply disturbing trend within legislatures to punish elected officials who speak out in protest against discriminatory and dangerous laws.”