Montana Republicans tried to silence Zooey Zephyr for speaking out. But in the end, they just granted her a bigger microphone.
The first-term Democratic representative was barred this spring from the Montana House chamber after calling out her Republican colleagues for passing an odious ban on gender-affirming care for kids. Zephyr, the first out transgender woman elected to the Montana legislature, said the state’s Republicans have “blood on their hands.” Transgender kids are far likelier to consider or attempt suicide than their cisgender peers.
“If you are denying gender-affirming care and forcing a trans child to go through puberty, that is tantamount to torture, and this body should be ashamed,” she said. “If you vote yes on this bill, I hope the next time you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands.”
In retaliation, House Speaker Matt Regier blocked Zephyr from being able to debate on the floor. Montana’s Republican-dominated House voted 68-32 to discipline Zephyr, who wasn’t allowed to participate in debates for the remainder of the legislative session.
The 34-year-old lawmaker represents Missoula, the second-largest city in the state.
“Your rights stop at a legislative supermajority,” she said about the state’s Republicans in an interview afterwards, via the AP. “If two-thirds of a body decide that you and your constituents don’t deserve representation, you don’t get it. … That should be a huge worry for people who want to stand up for democracy.”
When the House adjourned May 2, Zephyr was allowed to reenter the chamber, and was embraced by her Democratic colleagues.
Zephyr was part of a rainbow wave of candidates who won elections across the U.S. last year. Out of 714 LGBTQ+ candidates who appeared on ballots last November, at least 436 won their races, according to The Victory Fund.
Despite the record numbers of out LGBTQ+ lawmakers, 19 states passed laws restricting health care access for transgender children. Montana’s bill, which was signed by Gov. Greg Gianforte, who has a nonbinary son, will go into effect Oct. 1.
Along the way, Zephyr never apologized for her strong stand. She said she heard from a family whose transgender teenager attempted suicide while watching a legislative committee debate an anti-trans bill.
For Zephyr, laws targeting trans youth aren’t just politics. They are literally life or death.
“When I rose up and said there is blood on your hands, I was not being hyperbolic. I was speaking to the real consequences of the votes that we as legislators take in this body,” she said, per CNN.
Despite Republican attempts to erase Zephyr, her national profile has only grown. Earlier this month, she took a trip to Florida and blasted Ron DeSantis, one of the most anti-LGBTQ+ governors in the country, on his home turf.
“I wanted to show that we were willing to come down here and plant the flag of queer joy and say, ‘We are not going back into the closet,'” she said, via PinkNews. “You can pass these laws, but you will not make us afraid.”
Zephyr doesn’t just talk a good game: she backs up her strong rhetoric with action. Last month, she planted her own flag of queer joy, and proposed to her girlfriend at a queer prom event in her home city.
In other words, Zephyr is unafraid. She embodies the importance of representation, regardless of any arbitrary bans. Capricious punishments are temporary, and Zephyr is here to stay.
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