HELENA, Mont. (AP) 鈥 Montana Republicans barred transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr from the House floor on Wednesday, wielding 鈥渄ecorum鈥 rules after she rebuked colleagues supporting a ban on gender-affirming care for children and protested their efforts to silence her.
The punishment marks the first time in nearly half a century that Montana lawmakers have sought such disciplinary action against one of their own. It caps a weeklong between Zephyr and House Republican leaders and formalizes their decision to silence her for saying that those voting in favor of the ban would have blood on their hands.
Zephyr will still be able to vote and participate in committees, but not discuss proposals and amendments under consideration in the full House. The legislative session is set to end in early May.
The fight over Zephyr's remarks has brought the nationwide debate over protest's role in democracy to Montana, where lawmakers punished her for voicing dissent, in statehouses.
Supporting Zephyr's attempts to regain her voice, protesters interrupted proceedings earlier this week by chanting 鈥淟et her Speak鈥 in a boisterous rally that came after they protested outside the Capitol and unfurled a banner that read 鈥淒emocracy Dies Here.鈥
After days of rebuffing Zephyr's request to speak, Republican leaders finally granted her the floor to give a statement before they ultimately voted to discipline her Wednesday. She said her initial 鈥渂lood on your hands鈥 remark and subsequent decision to thrust a microphone into the air toward protesters in the House gallery were an effort to stand up for the LGBTQ+ community and her constituents in Missoula.
House Speaker Matt Regier's decision to turn off her microphone, she said, was an attempt to drive 鈥渁 nail in the coffin of democracy."
鈥淚f you use decorum to silence people who hold you accountable, then all you鈥檙e doing is using decorum as a tool of oppression,鈥 Zephyr told her colleagues.
House Republicans who supported barring Zephyr from the floor have accused her of placing lawmakers and staff at risk of harm for and inciting protests in the chamber on Monday.
But lawmakers were on the floor Monday when protesters were in the gallery, and there have been no reports of damage to the building.
鈥淔reedom in this body involves obedience to all the rules of this body, including the rules of decorum,鈥 House Majority Leader Sue Vinton said.
Authorities arrested seven people in the confrontation, who Zephyr said were defending democracy. Her opponents said ensuring government can conduct business on behalf of the people without interruption was a critical precedent to set.
鈥淭his is an assault on our representative democracy, spirited debate, and the free expression of ideas cannot flourish in an atmosphere of turmoil and incivility,鈥 Republican David Bedey said on the House floor.
The episode comes weeks after two Black lawmakers, state Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, were expelled for participating in a protest in favor of gun control after another school shooting. Similarly, Zephyr鈥檚 punishment has ignited a firestorm of debate about governance and who has a voice in an elected body during this politically polarizing time.
Post-expulsion, the fate of the two Tennessee lawmakers were sent to their county commissions, which swiftly voted to reinstate them. Zephyr told The Associated Press after the vote that Republican leaders were likely aware that a similar sequence of events could be triggered, had they expelled her.
鈥淢y community and the Democratic Party in Missoula would send me back here in a heartbeat because I represent them and I represent their values by standing up for democracy,鈥 she said.
In Missoula, the county Democratic Party Chair Andy Nelson said Zephyr's constituents and supporters were disheartened to see her disciplined.
鈥淲hat it comes down to is the silencing of not just Rep. Zephyr, but the 11,000 people she serves,鈥 he said after the decision.
The punishment comes two days after protesters later packed into the gallery at the Statehouse and brought House proceedings to a halt chanting 鈥淟et her speak" as Zephyr lifted her microphone toward them. Seven subsequent arrests galvanized both her supporters and those saying Zephyr's actions constitute an unacceptable attack on civil discourse.
The far-right Montana Freedom Caucus, which had pushed for Zephyr to be censured, said in a statement that her actions in support of the protesters were 鈥渘othing more than an ego trip." The caucus again on Wednesday deliberately misgendered Zephyr by using incorrect pronouns when referring to her.
鈥淭here needs to be some consequences for what he has been doing,鈥 said Rep. Joe Read, a member of the caucus who frequently and inconsistently used incorrect pronouns for Zephyr.
He claimed Zephyr gave a signal to her supporters just before Monday's session was disrupted. He declined to say what that was other than a 鈥渟trange movement.鈥
"When she gave the signal for protesters to go into action, I would say that鈥檚 when decorum was incredibly broken,鈥 Read added.
Zephyr told the AP that she felt the moment was calling on her to stand up for democracy.
鈥淓very time that one of these votes came; every time the speaker refused to allow me to speak; when the protesters came and demanded, my thought was twofold," she said. "Pride in those who stood up to defend democracy and a hope that in some small way, I could rise to that moment individually and do the work they sent me to do.鈥
___
Metz reported from Salt Lake and Brown reported from Billings, Montana.
