Montana lawmaker silenced but not silent, vows to fight on

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Rep. Zooey Zephyr began her first day in legislative exile Thursday with renewed confidence that Republican lawmakers’ unprecedented vote to silence her has only amplified her message to constituents at home and others watching across the nation.

“There are many more eyes on Montana now,” Zephyr said in an interview with The Associated Press. “But you do the same thing you’ve always done. You stand up in defense of your community and you … stand for the principles that they elected you to stand for.”

Zephyr was thrust into the national spotlight last week when she was prevented from speaking in the House after telling lawmakers backing a bill to ban gender-affirming medical care for minors that they would have blood on their hands.

The Republican response to her comments, and her refusal to apologize for them as demanded, have transformed the lawmaker into a prominent figure in the nationwide battle for transgender rights and placed her at the center of the ongoing debate over the muffling of dissent in statehouses.

The attention is a new phenomenon for Zephyr, a 34-year-old serving her first term representing a western Montana college town after being elected in November. She will spend her first day in legislative exile when the Montana House reconvenes Thursday morning, a day after the Republican majority voted to bar her from the House floor for the rest of the session.

Lawmakers made the move in retaliation for her participation in a protest that disrupted Monday’s floor session. Protesters upset that she was prevented from taking part in House debates after making her comments packed the gallery and chanted, “Let her speak!”