Transgender lawmaker censured from House floor

Brut America

Republicans in Montana voted to censure a transgender lawmaker after she told them they have “blood on [their] hands” for passing a bill that bans gender-affirming care for children.

Transcript

00:00When I rose up and said there is blood on your hands, I was not being hyperbolic.

00:07I was speaking to the real consequences of the votes that we as legislators take in this body.

00:16That's what Montana State Representative Zoe Zephyr had to say before being barred by Republican

00:21lawmakers from the House floor for the remainder of the 2023 session.

00:25And when the Speaker asks me to apologize on behalf of Decorum, what he is really asking me

00:32to do is be silent when my community is facing bills that get us killed. He is asking me to

00:40be complicit in this legislature's eradication of our community, and I refuse to do so,

00:47and I will always refuse to do so. I would also say that if you use Decorum

00:53to silence people who hold you accountable,

00:58then in the name of all you are doing is using Decorum as a tool of oppression.

01:04Republicans in Montana's State House of Representatives punished Zephyr, who is trans,

01:09after she participated in protests against the state's new ban on gender-affirming care

01:14for children. This legislature has systematically attacked that community. We have seen bills

01:21targeting our art forms, our books, our history, and our health care.

01:28And I rose up in defense of my community that day, speaking to harms that these bills bring

01:35and that I have first-hand experience knowing about. I have had friends who have taken their

01:40lives because of these bills. Following the protests and leading up to the April 26th vote,

01:45Zephyr was banned from speaking on the House floor. She will now no longer be able to debate

01:49proposals and amendments within the House chamber, but will still be allowed to vote

01:54and participate in committee assignments. Montana's current legislative session is

01:58scheduled to end in early May.

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