Rep. Zooey Zephyr’s criticism of the bill led the transgender lawmaker to be silenced on the House floor and then removed after she encouraged protesters on Monday.
HELENA, Mont. — Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a bill Friday to ban gender-affirming medical care for young transgender people — the battle over which ended with the removal of a transgender lawmaker from the House floor.
On Monday, Zephyr stood defiantly on the House floor with her microphone raised as protesters shouted “Let her speak,” disrupting House proceedings for at least 30 minutes. Zephyr was then banned from the House and its gallery and voted on bills from a bench in the hallway outside the House on Thursday and Friday.
Gianforte signaled his willingness to sign the bill on April 17 when he offered some amendments to make it clear that public funds could not be used to pay for hormone blockers, cross-sex hormones or surgical procedures. Parents of transgender children testified that the bill infringed on their parental rights to seek medical care for their children.
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