The Zephyr Outburst: When the Speaker cries: “Let her speak!” protesters shout in the lobby of the Montana legislature

HELENA, Mont. – Zooey Zephyr, a democrat, has not been allowed to speak by the speaker of the house.

Monday, when Zephyr was ignored after indicating she wanted to speak during a debate, protesters shouted “Let her speak.” The bill at hand was one that would say transgender and nonbinary students’ preferred pronouns should not have to be recognized by others in school.

Leading U.S. medical groups, including the American Medical Association, say gender-affirming care is “medically-necessary, evidence-based care that improves the physical and mental health of transgender and gender-diverse people.”

The speaker canceled the floor session on Tuesday. Speaking to the media, Regier did not say why, or take questions, but he did dispute the characterization of Zephyr being silenced, saying she has the option to apologize and again be recognized on the floor.

House members are free to participate in debate even if they follow House rules, he said.

Democratic leaders disagree Zephyr broke the rules against using accusatory language on the floor, saying the Speaker doesn’t have the right to block her speech indefinitely.

Zephyr says she stands by her comments. In a notice, Republican leaders cited the section of the Montana Constitution that gives authority to the Legislature to “expel or punish a member for good cause” with a two-thirds majority vote. Republicans hold such a supermajority in the House.

Pearson, Jones, and another Democrat used a megaphone on the floor of the Tennessee legislature during a gun-reform protest. In just a few days’ time, both lawmakers were voted back into their seats by local councils.

Many Republican lawmakers left the chambers, while many in the Democratic caucus stayed behind and watched. With her microphone above her head, she stayed at her desk during the uproar to amplify the protesters.

The doors to the chamber were locked 15 minutes after the last of the protesters were arrested. The seven people were taken to the Lewis and Clark County jail. All were released within a few hours.

“My people shouted ‘let her speak’ while I was waiting with the arrested, and I felt pride in them, as I walked out of the Capitol,” he said. “Because they are standing up for democracy, when they stood up.” They are standing up to ensure that their electeds are heard. That the causes they care about don’t get silenced.

Republican leaders denounced the violence and said they would always stand for civil debate.

“Protests like that are part of this process,” said Democrat Kim Abbott, the House Minority Leader. She disagreed with the Republicans’ assessment of the events, saying they were non-violent. The people came to the protest in a peaceful manner.

“Leadership has chosen to abandon any notion of integrity,” Gwen Nicholson, a Missoula resident, told the crowd, “instead opting for underhanded, anti-democratic cheap tricks to silence speech they don’t like in order to pass shameful laws meant to limit freedom, oppress minorities and consolidate power among a select few.”

The Zephyr / Abbott Dispatch: How the Montana Legislature is tackling a ‘distortionful’ gun-control controversy

Late last year in an interview, Zephyr told NPR one reason why she decided to run for office in Montana: “Watching bills pass through the legislature by one vote, I cried and I thought to myself, ‘I bet I could change one heart, I bet I could change one mind. We need representation in that room. I am going to try to get in. “

Even though work in the House is paused for one day, members are still under a tight deadline. Montana’s Constitution says it must adjourn in eight days, and they’ve yet to finish piecing together a budget, typically their most important task.

“If you use decorum to silence people who hold you accountable, all you are doing is using decorum as a tool of oppression,” Zephyr said during the debate Wednesday.

The Montana controversy comes about three weeks after the Tennessee House voted to expel state Reps. Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson for using a megaphone on the floor during a gun reform protest. Local councils reinstated Jones and Pearson after that.

She has taken a very strong stance against the legislations to ban gender-affirming care for trans teens, to ban teens from attending drag shows and to refer to sex as binaries in the state code.

The demonstrators were arrested in the House gallery for protesting the blocking of Zelcey from speaking for three days in a row. Republican leaders said the events were a riot.

House Minority Leader Kim Abbott says her caucus will hold Republicans accountable for their “anti-democratic agenda.” The public gallery was closed for Wednesday’s proceedings.