Transgender lawmaker banned from Montana House floor

The Montana House voted Wednesday to bar Zooey Zephyr, D–Missoula, a male lawmaker who identifies as a woman, from the House floor for the rest of the 2023 session. Zephyr will be allowed to vote remotely. The vote capped a weeklong standoff between Zephyr and Montana’s Republican House Speaker Matt Regier.

What was the standoff about? Regier had refused to recognize Zephyr and allow him to speak on the floor after he told lawmakers who supported a bill protecting minors from gender transition procedures that they had “blood on their hands.” Regier called the statement a violation of decorum and said he wouldn’t allow Zephyr to be recognized until he apologized for his actions. Zephyr refuses to apologize and, for the past week, has been barred from speaking on the floor.

Dig deeper: Read Steven Wedgeworth’s column in WORLD Opinions about how so-called “gender-affirming care” is really medical malpractice.