Authorities in Montana arrested seven protesters among many who interrupted the state legislature on Monday. They showed up to support Representative Zooey Zephyr of Missoula, who calls himself a transgender woman. He is banned from speaking for the remainder of the legislative session, or until he apologizes for comments made last week during debate over a bill to ban gender-mutilation drugs and surgeries for minors. On the third day of Zephyr’s censure, some supporters showed up and started chanting from the galleries.
What comments got Zephyr in trouble? In part, he attacked fellow legislators with: “The only thing I will say is if you vote yes on this bill and yes on these amendments, I hope the next time there’s an invocation when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands.”
The “blood on your hands” that he mentions refers to studies indicating drastically high rates of suicide among youth plagued with the modern gender-identity crisis. Instead of blaming the obvious — mental-health issues — researchers blame Republicans for those statistics, because GOP lawmakers insist on protecting minors from what Zephyr and his ilk ironically call life-saving “gender affirming” treatments.
Montana Speaker of the House Matt Regier explained Zephyr’s ban to Missoula’s CBS affiliate, KPAX-TV:
So it’s my responsibility as speaker of the Montana House to ensure decorum, and to ensure decorum with all 100 members of us on the House. And there has been — every session there is — there are people that are out of decorum. And we have to address those issues from time to time. And people get passionate, and that’s understandable. And we’ve done that in the past. And every representative has … acknowledged that and apologized and assured me that decorum was going to be kept in the future. Representative Zephyr has made comments in the past that are derogatory and did not show remorse of staying within that decorum. And until that can happen and trust is restored, recognition won’t be granted.
I’m not silencing anybody. This is — there is a path forward — it’s in the rules, to acknowledge recognition or not — once again, anybody, any representative that wants to debate within the decorum and within that integrity and dignity of the House — that the Montana House is accustomed to — I’m going to recognize them.
I’m speaker of the entire House. And it’s up to me to maintain that dignity and integrity — I’m quoting straight from our rules — of the House. And that is exactly what I’m going to do. And I’m more than happy to acknowledge any and all representatives if I have their trust that they can stay within decorum during debate on the House floor.
Regier said Zephyr committed multiple infractions — shaming fellow legislators for their votes and making personal attacks that he says “don’t belong on the house floor.” He said he will acknowledge Zephyr once the latter apologizes for his derogatory statements and assures the House that he will observe the rules of decorum that apply to all legislators.
On Monday, Democrats protested Regier’s refusal to recognize Zephyr and insisted on a vote challenging his decision. Regier obliged them, and the vote upheld the speaker’s ruling. That was when chaos erupted from the galleries, as activists chanted “Whose house? Our house!” and “Let her speak!”
