Montana Republicans are punishing a trans lawmaker for criticizing their anti-trans bill

The state GOP has already silenced Rep. Zooey Zephyr on the floor, and will vote to censure or expel her this week.

The Montana House is set to vote on the disciplining of Democratic Rep. Zooey Zephyr on Wednesday afternoon after she criticized a Republican bill that would ban gender-affirming care for minors in the state. Zephyr is the first trans woman elected to the Montana legislature, and the GOP attacks on her come as Republicans across the country have pushed a swath of anti-trans bills.

Leaders of the Republican-controlled Montana House informed Zephyr on Tuesday that there would be a motion to consider whether she should be disciplined this week. That motion could ultimately lead to Zephyr being either censured or expelled.

The calls to discipline Zephyr, who represents Montana’s 100th House district, have been criticized as undemocratic and an echo of what Tennessee Republicans recently did to Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson after they participated in a protest for gun control. Last month, Republicans expelled both lawmakers — who were later reinstated to their roles — from the Tennessee House. Montana Republicans’ maneuvers are ultimately a continuation of the GOP’s anti-trans positions as well as anti-democratic actions they’ve taken to quell opposition.

The move to discipline Zephyr follows a statement she made last Thursday condemning Republican legislation that curbs minors’ access to gender-affirming care. “I hope the next time there’s an invocation, when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands,” Zephyr said at the time. Since then, a group of conservative House Republicans has accused her of “hateful rhetoric,” and House Speaker Matt Regier has said the disciplinary vote will center on whether Zephyr violated the “rules” and “decorum” of the legislative body.

Thus far, at least 11 states have approved bans that are comparable to Montana’s bill. The legislation would bar the use of hormones, surgery, and puberty blockers for youth who are diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Additionally, it prevents state Medicaid funds from being used for gender-affirming care and includes penalties for physicians who provide it to minors.

Republicans have denounced gender-affirming care as harmful even as major health care organizations like the American Medical Association and the American Association of Pediatrics have said it’s “medically necessary.” The GOP has also ramped up its anti-trans rhetoric, a message that’s particularly resonant with white Evangelical voters. Montana, which recently saw Republicans take a supermajority in the legislature, is among the places where lawmakers have leaned into this strategy.

“I think what we’re seeing is that when marginalized communities, communities who are impacted the most by legislation, rise up and speak to the harm, whether it’s me speaking on trans issues, whether it’s young Black men speaking on gun violence,” Zephyr said in a CBS News interview. “Those folks in power, particularly on the far right, do not want to be held accountable for the real harm that these bills bring.”

Why Republicans are disciplining Zephyr

Republicans’ attempt to discipline Zephyr follows the statements she made last week during a debate about legislation that would prevent minors from accessing gender-affirming care. That legislation, known as Senate Bill 99, was the subject of amendments during Zephyr’s remarks last week. “If you disallow the youths of the medical care that is accepted by every major medical association … the only therapy left is either a) meaningless or b) conversion therapy, which is torture,” she said.

In the days since, a conservative group of lawmakers in the Montana Freedom Caucus released a letter lambasting Zephyr’s comments and misgendering her. They argued that she should be censured for “attempting to shame the Montana legislative body and by using inappropriate and uncalled-for language.” Specifically, they called out the comment she made about lawmakers seeing “blood on your hands.”

“For me, in that moment, it felt critical that I stand up in defense of my community and call up these pieces of legislation for what they are, which is harmful,” Zephyr told MSNBC regarding her remarks. There are serious concerns that limiting access to gender-affirming care will be damaging to trans youth’s physical and mental health. A 2022 survey from the Trevor Project, a nonprofit focused on LGBTQ rights, found that more than 50 percent of trans and nonbinary youth in the US had considered suicide, as discrimination against members of this community has increased.

After Zephyr’s speech, she was silenced on the House floor for more than three days. During this time, House Leadership has not let her speak in debate about other legislation and declined to recognize her on the floor, claiming that she breached decorum. This Monday, seven protesters were arrested as people chanted “Let her speak!” from the House gallery.

Wednesday’s vote will determine any additional consequences House Republicans want to impose on Zephyr. If she is censured, she’ll be publicly reprimanded by lawmakers and could be stripped from her committee assignments. If she is expelled, a county commission could be asked to fill the vacancy, and potentially reappoint her.

This move adds to Republicans’ anti-trans bills and anti-democratic moves

Republican attacks on Zephyr are a continuation of the onslaught of anti-trans rhetoric and policies the GOP has increasingly embraced. Beyond the bill restricting gender-affirming care, Montana is also weighing legislation that would narrowly define the terms “man” and “woman” in a way that excludes trans people from important legal protections, and a bill that shields students who misgender their classmates. As Vox’s Nicole Narea and Fabiola Cineas have explained, Montana is far from the only Republican-led state mounting this push, with several others proposing bills that require trans people to use bathrooms that match the sex they were assigned at birth and legislation that limits trans athletes’ ability to compete in sports.

Such policies and rhetoric have been aimed at ginning up support from white Evangelicals, whose worldview relies on a narrow “gender binary,” says Sophie Bjork-James, an anthropologist at Vanderbilt University who studies the religious right. Many of these bills have also aimed to dehumanize trans people and frame them as predatory. “​​Being able to treat a trans person as someone who doesn’t belong in the legislature furthers this dehumanization,” she told Vox.

The punishment of Zephyr, who represents a district of roughly 11,000 people in western Montana, is also the latest in a string of undemocratic maneuvers Republicans have employed across the country in order to suppress viewpoints they disagree with. Such actions highlight a willingness by the GOP, in states where they have comfortable supermajorities, to undermine any opposition they face.

“Rep. Zephyr’s silencing and the expulsion of the ‘Tennessee 3’ make it clear that some state legislatures have grown increasingly authoritarian and will brook no opposition in their march to impose a legislative agenda that would trample over and silence the voices of the minority and vulnerable communities,” says Sasha Buchert, a senior attorney at Lambda Legal, an advocacy group for LGBTQ rights.