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ACLU files suit against Montana House over censure of transgender lawmaker

Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr, D-Missoula, filed a lawsuit against the Montana House through the ACLU on Monday. Image courtesy of Montana Legislature
Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr, D-Missoula, filed a lawsuit against the Montana House through the ACLU on Monday. Image courtesy of Montana Legislature

May 1 (UPI) -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Montana filed a lawsuit Monday challenging the censuring of transgender state Rep. Zooey Zephyr, who has been barred from attending remaining sessions of the state House in person.

The lawsuit charges that the ban violates Zephyr's First Amendment rights and prevents the 11,000 residents of her district from being represented in state government.

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The censure from the Republican-led Montana House of Representatives last week allows Zephyr to keep her seat, and she can vote remotely. But she will not be allowed to speak or participate beyond that.

"Representative Zephyr was elected by the people of her district after running on the very principles she is now being punished for defending," Alex Rate, legal director of the ACLU of Montana, said in a statement. "In his craven pursuit to deny transgender youth and their families the health care they need, Speaker [Matt] Regier has unfairly, unjustly, and unconstitutionally silenced those voters by silencing their representative.

"His actions are a direct threat to the bedrock principles that uphold our entire democracy, and we welcome the privilege of defending the people of Montana's 100th House District from this desperate and autocratic effort to silence them."

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Since April 18, Zephyr has been denied the opportunity to speak on the House floor after she said Republicans would have "blood" on their hands if they approved a bill to ban gender-affirming care for minors. Montana House Republican leadership accused Zephyr of breaking House rules with such a statement.

"This effort by House leadership to silence me and my constituents is a disturbing and terrifying affront to democracy itself," Zephyr said in Monday's statement. "House leadership explicitly and directly targeted me and my district because I dared to give voice to the values and needs of transgender people like myself.

"By doing so, they've denied me my own rights under the Constitution and, more importantly, the rights of my constituents to just representation in their own government," she said.

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