Montana House endorses transgender bathroom ban affecting fellow lawmakers
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/montana-house-endorses-transgender-bathroom-ban-affecting-fellow-lawmakers/ar-AA1xgH1J?ocid=windirect&cvid=fef777490de647ee9dd3a7f4b4108218&ei=64
Story by HANNAH SCHOENBAUM (15 Jan 2025)
Montana's Republican-controlled House on Wednesday endorsed a ban on transgender people using bathrooms in public buildings that do not align with their sex assigned at birth — a change that would complicate daily life for two fellow lawmakers.
The move comes a month after Montana legislators rejected a more narrow rule that would have kept transgender Rep. Zooey Zephyr out of women's restrooms in the state Capitol...
Zephyr and nonbinary Rep. SJ Howell pleaded with their GOP colleagues to reject the proposal and to stop labeling trans people as a threat to women without evidence supporting the claim.
"Trans people walk through the state of Montana afraid enough already," Zephyr said. "Leave trans people alone. Let me be the woman I'm happy to be. Let me live my life."
Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe, a Republican sponsoring the bill, insisted that it's not meant to be exclusionary but to preserve safe spaces for women.
"Women should not have to sacrifice their privacy or safety because of cultural trends," Seekins-Crowe said.
Howell, of Missoula, argued the bill would create less privacy and more property taxes as the state would have to find ways to enforce the law and pay to retrofit more restrooms to be gender-neutral.
"I think we've gotten a little sideways about what Montana values really are ... love thy neighbor, mind thy business," Howell said. "This bill does neither."
Quote from: Jessica_Rose on January 16, 2025, 11:40:49 AMZephyr said. "Leave trans people alone. Let me be the woman I'm happy to be. Let me live my life."
Quote from: Jessica_Rose on January 16, 2025, 11:40:49 AMI think we've gotten a little sideways about what Montana values really are ... love thy neighbor, mind thy business," Howell said. "This bill does neither.
This is so painful. We're not asking for much, but it feels like such a struggle. I'm getting a bit emotional, sorry about that.
" Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe, a Republican sponsoring the bill, insisted that it's not meant to be exclusionary but to preserve safe spaces for women."
Basically the equivalent of I'm not touching you. This is the most polite way of saying that we are not woman. Can one of our brothers go in there with their beard and make this really uncomfortable?
The best comment I have seen so far:
G.O.P. = Genitals Obsessed Party.
I assume this means the bill now goes to the Montana state senate for approval. Do you know, Jessica Rose 🌹, what is the position of the senate? Are they inclined to move forward this travesty of justice?
I have never felt more pleased to NOT live in Montana.
Love!
Miharu ❤️
We simply want to use the bathroom for our gender, or a unisex bathroom.
That is all.
Why not let us?
Unless a few Republicans are willing to do the right thing, I expect it will pass. Here is another quote from the article:
Republicans pushed through the bill in a 58-42 party-line vote over strong Democratic opposition. The measure faces a final House vote before it heads to the GOP-controlled state Senate.
Montana's Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte has supported previous measures directed against transgender people.
Under the bill, trans people could not use restrooms, changing rooms and sleeping areas that align with their gender identity in public buildings, schools, prisons, jails and programs for domestic violence victims.
Thank you for the update, Jessica Rose.
These irrational attacks by bigoted lawmakers are nuts! I pray that this is just a phase our country is going through. Though if this is a phase, it may very well last for a decade or two.
Back in the 1980s, life was very fraught and extremely dangerous for trans people. I was very nearly murdered in 1984 because word got out that I was a closeted trans woman. And in the 1980s and 1990s it felt like the number one opportunity available to us was sex work.
Things got so much better for us in the double 0s and 2010s... This feels like a swing of the pendulum back to a darker time. The pendulum must eventually swing back in our favor. For now we live our lives as best we can, and do our best to take care of each other and do what we can to keep ourselves and each other safe.
Love!
Miharu
Boo on this ban.