Republicans in Montana voted to censure a transgender lawmaker after she told them they have “blood on [their] hands” for passing a bill that bans gender-affirming care for children.
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00:00When I rose up and said there is blood on your hands, I was not being hyperbolic.
00:07I was speaking to the real consequences of the votes that we as legislators take in this body.
00:16That's what Montana State Representative Zoe Zephyr had to say before being barred by Republican
00:21lawmakers from the House floor for the remainder of the 2023 session.
00:25And when the Speaker asks me to apologize on behalf of Decorum, what he is really asking me
00:32to do is be silent when my community is facing bills that get us killed. He is asking me to
00:40be complicit in this legislature's eradication of our community, and I refuse to do so,
00:47and I will always refuse to do so. I would also say that if you use Decorum
00:53to silence people who hold you accountable,
00:58then in the name of all you are doing is using Decorum as a tool of oppression.
01:04Republicans in Montana's State House of Representatives punished Zephyr, who is trans,
01:09after she participated in protests against the state's new ban on gender-affirming care
01:14for children. This legislature has systematically attacked that community. We have seen bills
01:21targeting our art forms, our books, our history, and our health care.
01:28And I rose up in defense of my community that day, speaking to harms that these bills bring
01:35and that I have first-hand experience knowing about. I have had friends who have taken their
01:40lives because of these bills. Following the protests and leading up to the April 26th vote,
01:45Zephyr was banned from speaking on the House floor. She will now no longer be able to debate
01:49proposals and amendments within the House chamber, but will still be allowed to vote
01:54and participate in committee assignments. Montana's current legislative session is
01:58scheduled to end in early May.