View gallery
- Zooey Zephyr went viral for her Montana House comments on gender affirming healthcare for teens.
- The legislature took the extraordinary measure of silencing her.
- She has vowed to continue the fight for the rights of trans teens in Montana.
Zooey Zephyr has just left the White House after meeting with members of the Biden administration to strategize a national response to the vastly increased attacks on LGBTQ people. She appreciates the support of the federal government in joining the bruising fight that she as a Montana state representative waged this year against a ban on gender affirming health care for teens as well as against a law making it easier for trans teens to be bullied.
Despite Zephyr literally being silenced and banned from appearing on the Legislature floor after vigorously representing opponents of these bills, which were later signed into law by Montana’s Governor Greg Gianforte, she tells HollywoodLife that she feels “gratitude” from the state’s trans community.
Rep. Zooey Zephyr spoke in her own defense before Republicans, who have a super majority, banned her from the Montana House floor for the remainder of the session. pic.twitter.com/akWxqJLSWO
— David Heath (@davidhth) April 26, 2023
“There’s a gratitude for someone that is in there holding the powerful accountable for bills that get our community killed,” she explains. “There’s someone in the room when the bills come through and when they are as cruel as they have been this year, they still can’t shut us out entirely, even though they’ve tried.”
When Zephyr, 34, states that a ban on allowing trans teens to utilize puberty blockers and hormone treatments, with their Parents’s permission and under a doctor’s care, is “torture,” she doesn’t mince words. She assertively told the Republican state legislature that if they passed the trans healthcare ban (SB 99), they would literally “have blood on their hands.” “That’s not hyperbole,” she emphasizes to Hollywoodlife. “We had a trans kid in our state who attempted suicide while watching one of the hearings on the bill banning gender affirming healthcare.”
And facts are fact: Trans teens have a high rate of suicide and attempted suicide – 45% have attempted suicide in the past year and 14% have committed suicide, according to a 2022 National Survey on LGBTQ Mental Heath. This is about double that for cisgender teens.
Yet Montana’s Republican lawmakers who passed the trans healthcare ban claim that they were “protecting” teens. Not true says Zephyr, who cites the Montana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatricians who said that the ban was a “bad policy.” She says that pediatricians and therapists who came in to explain to legislators the careful care that trans patients are given and why the care is necessary, were not listened to by Republican lawmakers.
“One of the things I said was that if you force a trans girl to go through a male puberty, that is tantamount to torture,” she relates. Nevertheless, the bill was signed into law by the Governor Gianforte in April. “It’s a and it should be very concerning to anyone who cares deeply about democracy in this country,” she warns.
After her censure in late April, footage emerged of Zephyr triumphantly but silently raising a microphone as her supporters chanted “let her speak” from the gallery, even as she was unable to participate in debate over the healthcare ban. The noise ultimately brought the session to halt, and again, the moment went viral.
Transgender Montana lawmaker Zooey Zephyr was again prevented from taking part in debate over a measure banning gender-affirming care for minors as her supporters brought the House session to a halt — chanting “Let her speak!” from the gallery. https://t.co/J6SGW8BJZy pic.twitter.com/GlEZFoFYHb
— ABC News (@ABC) April 25, 2023
Now, The ACLU of Montana is challenging the constitutionality of the law, which takes away a parent’s right to provide the healthcare that they believe they need for their child. The law doesn’t go into affect until Oct 1, so she hopes that the Montana courts will block it, as “it’s as cruel as it is unconstitutional” – and trans teens will be able to continue to get the care they need in the state.
Zephyr plans to fight on and run for office again in 2024 despite the “harmful rhetoric” she has endured for speaking out on behalf of her community. “There have been increasing threats to me personally. But I am doing what I can to mitigate them and I’m not letting it deter me,” she says.
None of this has dampened Zooey’s faith in the people of Montana — and she doesn’t believe these new laws reflect the tolerance that has historically been a hallmark of the state. “Montana has had a deep history of us standing up for justice and representation,” she said. “I think of Montana being the birthplace of the Union fights against the copper kings. I think of Montana electing Jeanette Rankin, the first woman to serve in Congress before women had the right to vote.”
In other words, she asserts, “the legislature is very out of step” and the people there are, by and large, understanding. “When I travel across the state, I see a state that broadly recognizes that trans people are living our lives, and we’re living lives that bring us joy — and that would not be possible if we had not transitioned. And they recognize that we are not just in their communities, but an integral part of what makes Montana wonderful.”
Unfortunately, she feels that a “capitulation to the growing extremism within the Republican Party” has resulted in “harmful” actions, including House Bill 361. Zephyr explains that the bill, introduced by Republican Rep. Brandon Ler, “allows other students to intentionally misgendering and dead name trans students in schools,” thus bullying trans students in public schools with no consequence.
As for Zooey’s now-viral speech, she admits that she has “not seen the scope” of the movement that sprung up around her in the aftermath of the silencing, including t-shirts and other merch reading “Let her speak.” “I am so focused on…’what is the next room’ to enter to make change,” she said. “How do I do good there?”
In addition to fighting the bill, the ACLU of Montana has Zooey’s back. Early in May, they filed a lawsuit alleging that her censure is a violation of her First Amendment rights. “By depriving Representative Zephyr of her right to freely engage with the legislative process, Defendants have also deprived her 11,000 constituents of the right to full representation in their government,” the lawsuit documents state, per NBC News. “Defendants’ lawless silencing and Censure of Representative Zooey Zephyr extinguishes a vital part of the job her constituents elected her to do.” Defendants in the lawsuit include Bradley Murfitt, sergeant-at-arms of the Montana House, Rep. Matt Regier, speaker of the Montana House, and the state of Montana.
Meanwhile, as the battle marches on, Zooey confesses that it was overwhelming to return home to Missoula after the massive media blitz that put her at the center of the battle for trans rights for teens. “It seemed like every storefront on the main drag had a photo of me, or a sign reading ‘let her speak.’” Zephyr draws a deep breath before continuing. “It was like, ‘okay, here we are.’ I just feel blessed to represent my home. And I feel blessed that I have a community in Montana that doesn’t just have my back, but will stand up alongside me and say, ‘this is the person we want representing us. This is someone we love and care about. She is speaking truth to power. She’s holding powerful accountable.’ And I just feel awash with gratitude.”
Click to Subscribe to Get Our Free HollywoodLife Daily Newsletter to get the hottest celeb news.
This story originally appeared on Hollywoodlife
