Zephyr was silenced and barred after chiding her Republican colleagues over legislation to restrict gender-affirming health care and for encouraging protesters
HELENA, Mont. — Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr asked a court Monday to allow for her return to the House floor after she was silenced and barred for chiding her Republican colleagues over legislation to restrict gender-affirming health care and for encouraging protesters.
The legal challenge against House Speaker Matt Regier and statehouse Sergeant-at-Arms Bradley Murfitt comes with just days left in the Legislature’s biennial session. Murfitt said he would not comment on the lawsuit, and Regier did not return telephone messages and an email seeking comment. “Suicide amongst transgender youth is not imaginary,” Wong said. “It is not a game and it is not a political foil. It is real. It is heartbreaking. And it is the responsibility of my representative to speak out against bills promoting it.”
Republicans silenced Zephyr from participating in floor debates on April 18 after she said those who supported a ban on gender-affirming care for youths would have blood on their hands. Days later, she raised her microphone in defiance as demonstrators in the House gallery angrily demanded she be allowed to speak, leading to seven arrests and Zephyr’s banishment from the House floor.
Zephyr’s situation echoed the ouster this year of two Tennessee lawmakers from that state’s legislature for a protest over gun policy.
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