A transgender lawmaker from Montana has been censured in the House after the individual made “hateful rhetoric” while debating a bill ending transgender procedures for minors.
The SB 99 bill, also known as the “Youth Health Protection Act,” bans minors in the state from receiving surgical procedures, puberty blockers, and hormones.
“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,” state Rep. Zooey Zephyr, a Democrat, said during the House debate on Tuesday, referring to the chamber’s opening prayer. Zephyr is the first transgender lawmaker in the history of the Montana Legislature.
House Majority Leader Sue Vinton called Zephyr’s comments disrespectful. In the evening, the Montana Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative lawmakers, demanded that Zephyr be censured for “attempting to shame the Montana legislative body and by using inappropriate and uncalled-for language during a floor debate.”
“This kind of hateful rhetoric from an elected official is exactly why tragedies such as the Covenant Christian School shooting in Nashville occurred,” the caucus said in an April 18 press release.
“Combined with former Montana Supreme Court Justice Jim Nelson’s recent calls for ‘jihad’ and a ‘fight to the death’, there is unmistakable evidence of a desire for some to engage in violence over political beliefs. This must stop.”
On Thursday, Speaker Matt Regier did not allow Zephyr to speak against a bill that sought to define male and female in binary terms in the state code. On Friday, Zephyr was once more prevented from speaking on a bill that sought to block minors from seeing porn online.
Regier’s decision to prohibit Zephyr from speaking was taken after consultation with other lawmakers, according to The Associated Press. Though Democrats raised objections, the decision was eventually upheld in party-line votes.
Protecting Minors
SB 99 seeks to “prohibit certain medical and surgical treatments to treat minors with gender dysphoria.” A person is prohibited from “knowingly” offering medical treatments to a minor to address the child’s perception that their gender or sex is different from their birth gender or sex. Such treatments include surgical procedures, puberty blockers, and doses of testosterone or other androgens.
Physicians or health care professionals who violate these rules will be deemed as having engaged in “unprofessional conduct.”
As such, they will be subject to an “appropriate licensing entity or disciplinary review board with competent jurisdiction in this state. That discipline must include suspension of the ability to administer health care or practice medicine for at least 1 year.”
Health care professionals who provide the banned treatments to minors will be “strictly liable to that person if the medical treatment or after-effects of the medical treatment result in any injury, including physical, psychological, emotional, or physiological harms, within the next 25 years.”
The minor or their legal guardian can bring a civil action for the injury the minor has suffered. They can seek compensatory damages, injunctive relief, and punitive damages.
The Youth Health Protection Act has been passed by the House. It is now in the hands of the state governor who has indicated that he intends to sign it.
State Laws
Like Montana, other states are also passing bills to protect minors from transgender-related issues. Earlier this month, the Republican-controlled Texas Senate passed the SB 12 and SB 14 bills.
SB 14 seeks to end gender modification on children in the state. It also bans health care providers from performing sex change surgeries or offering puberty blockers to minors unless medically necessary.
SB 12 seeks to halt drag show performance in front of children. It bans male performers from exhibiting themselves as females and female performers from exhibiting as males amidst minors.
In Kentucky, lawmakers passed into law SB 150 last month that blocks transgender procedures for minors. The bill was earlier vetoed by the state governor.
