As debates over transgender issues embroil Montana’s Legislature, the governor has faced lobbying from his son, who identifies as nonbinary and has pleaded with his father to reject what he called “immoral, unjust” bills backed by Republicans.
As debates over transgender issues embroil Montana’s Legislature, the governor has faced lobbying from someone close to him: his son, who identifies as nonbinary and has pleaded with his father to reject what he called “immoral, unjust” bills backed by Republicans.
“There are a lot of important issues passing through the Legislature right now,” David Gianforte told his father. “For my own sake I’ve chosen to focus primarily on transgender rights, as that would significantly directly affect a number of my friends.” The father-son meeting, first reported Wednesday by the Free Press, provided a remarkable snapshot of a family whose fractured views of the transgender bills reflected those playing out across the state. It also underscored how personal such debates have been, even in the Gianforte family, whose patriarch appeared poised to back his Republican colleagues and sign the bills into law.
This year, 11 states have passed laws prohibiting transition care for young people. Previously, just three state legislatures had enacted full or partial bans. The barrage of state legislation is part of a long-term campaign by conservative organizations to use transgender issues as a way to motivate voters and raise money.
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