Protesters Arrested in Montana House as Disciplinary Action Against Transgender Representative Continues

The gallery of the Montana House on Monday afternoon erupted into protest in response to continued efforts to silence Rep. Zooey Zephyr, D-Missoula, culminating in multiple arrests of protesters.

Zephyr, the first transgender woman elected to the Montana Legislature, has been barred from speaking on the House floor after the lawmaker delivered an impassioned rebuke of Senate Bill 99 on April 18. Senate Bill 99, introduced by Sen. John Fuller, R-Kalispell, would ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors in the state of Montana.

“This body should be ashamed,” Zephyr said, speaking about Senate Bill 99 on the House floor last week. “If you vote yes on this bill and yes on these amendments I hope the next time there’s an invocation, when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands.”

Shortly after, the Montana Freedom Caucus, a conservative faction within the state’s Republican Party, published a letter calling for a censure of Zephyr and misgendering her. The Montana Freedom Caucus charged Zephyr with “attempting to shame the Montana legislative body … by using inappropriate and uncalled-for language.”

During House consideration of Senate Bill 518 — a bill introduced by Sen. Theresa Manzella, R-Hamilton, that would restrict when children could change their preferred name and pronouns in school — on Monday afternoon, Zephyr requested to be recognized to speak, a request that was denied by Speaker of the House Rep. Matt Regier, R-Kalispell. Regier refused to allow Zephyr to speak twice last week, stating that Zephyr had breached decorum.

After a House vote upheld Regier’s decision to bar Zephyr from speaking, the gallery erupted in protest, with protesters shouting, “Let her speak,” and “Whose house? Our house,” prompting Regier to clear the House floor.

Helena police pushed protesters out of the gallery and detained at least five people, according to initial reports. As law enforcement removed protesters, at times by force, Zephyr stood on the House floor, holding her microphone in the air.

The incident in the House occurred after dozens of demonstrators gathered outside of the Capitol building on Monday morning to protest the censure of Zephyr, displaying signs that read “Democracy Dies Here.”

The Legislature has considered a variety of bills this session that LGBTQ Montanans say would impinge on their rights, including bills that would ban minors from attending drag performances; define binary sex in Montana law; and allow medical providers to deny care based on religious or personal beliefs.