Transgender bathroom ban aimed at Montana Representative Zooey Zephyr fails
Helena, Montana - The Montana state legislature on Tuesday voted down a measure that would have barred the state's first transgender representative, Zooey Zephyr, from using Capitol restrooms that correspond with her gender identity.
The measure, introduced in a Tuesday meeting of the Joint House and Senate Rules Committees, would have required state lawmakers to use restrooms according to the sex assigned to them at birth. Though Zephyr was not named in the text, it was widely seen to target her.
Several Republicans joined Democrats in rejecting the measure.
"This particular action will have the effect of making people famous in the national news and will not contribute to the effective conduct of our business," said Republican state Representative David Bedey, in apparent reference to Zephyr.
It's not the first time Zephyr's colleagues have attempted to limit her rights as an elected state legislator. The Missoula representative was catapulted into the national spotlight when the Montana House voted to censure her in April 2023 after blocking her from speaking out against a proposed gender-affirming health care ban for trans minors.
"I'm happy to see that this proposed ban failed and am grateful for my colleagues – particularly my republican colleagues – who recognized this as a distraction from the work we were elected to do," Zephyr posted on X on Tuesday.
"I'm ready to represent my constituents & look forward to working on behalf of Montana," she added.
Transgender rights under assault
The proposed Montana measure reflects a similar move by Republicans at the US Capitol, targeted at Delaware Representative-elect Sarah McBride.
South Carolina Republican Nancy Mace last month introduced a resolution to prohibit transgender House members, officers, and employees from using Capitol bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity.
House Speaker Mike Johnson then said he would push forward with a discriminatory rule to bar trans women from using women's restrooms.
The transphobic ban is widely seen as an attack on McBride, but would apply to interns and staffers as well.
The move comes as rightwing lawmakers across the nation are waging an assault on transgender people, threatening their civil liberties and right to exist in public and private spaces.
LGBTQ+ rights advocates have warned that systemic discrimination against trans people – often exacerbated by poverty, racism, and sexism – creates the conditions for the continued epidemic of violence targeting transgender, gender-nonconforming, and nonbinary individuals.
Cover photo: IMAGO / Imagn Images