Transgender Lawmaker Sues Over Removal From Montana House Floor
The News
A state representative in Montana asked a court on Monday to allow her to return to the House floor for the rest of the state’s legislative session, arguing that her First Amendment rights had been violated after an escalating standoff over her remarks on transgender issues.
Representative Zooey Zephyr, a Democrat from Missoula, was barred last week from participating in deliberations in the House chamber after she made impassioned comments in opposition to a ban on hormone treatments and surgical care for transgender minors. The bill, which passed, has since been signed by Gov. Greg Gianforte, a Republican.
“I’m determined to defend the right of the people to have their voices heard,” Ms. Zephyr, who is transgender, tweeted on Monday when announcing her lawsuit, adding that the rights of her 11,000 constituents had also been violated. Four of them were also named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana and other lawyers.
A spokeswoman for Austin Knudsen, the state’s Republican attorney general, called the move “political activism masquerading as a lawsuit” and added that “any relief granted by the court would be a gross violation of the separation of powers.”
Source: The New York Times
