Rep. Zooey Zephyr (D) has been a target of Republicans since she said they would have 'blood on their hands' for passing anti-trans bills.
House Majority Leader Sue Vinton said they “disrupted and disturbed” the session and Zephyr “encouraged the continuation of the disruption of this body,” putting her colleagues and capitol staff “at risk of harm.” Video of the incidenta few dozen protesters yelling and refusing to leave the chamber when instructed by Regier. Those who were arrested did not struggle as they were led out in handcuffs. Members of the public were barred from the public galleries on Wednesday.
referring to a number of anti-trans bills the legislature is considering, including legally codifying binary gender; banning drag; and preventing children from informally changing their pronouns at school without parental permission. Zephyr said she had received multiple phone calls from concerned families, including one that shared that their teenage daughter “attempted to take her life while watching a hearing” on one of these bills.
When she warned that Republicans will have “blood on their hands,” “I was not being hyperbolic,” she said. “I was speaking to the real consequences of the votes that we as legislators take in this body.”A number of her fellow Democrats spoke in support of her, including Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy, who noted that trans rights are not being debated just in Montana, but all across the nation and the world.
“We did not go to look for that fight, but when it came to us…we stood up, we stood with our community, we told the truths that we live every day,” Howell said. “We hoped you would listen. That’s our job.”
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