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Transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr has been censured by Montana House Republicans over criticism of gender-affirming care ban. The Montana House voted on Wednesday to censure the state’s first openly transgender legislator Zooey Zephyr, who called for her colleagues to vote against a gender-affirming care ban for transgender youth. The House voted 68-32 to censure Zephyr, who is barred from participating from the House floor. On April 20, Zephyr told conservative lawmakers they would have “blood on their hands” during debate on SB99, which would ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth. The bill passed and is now on the desk of Gov. Greg Gianforte, who has signaled his support for the legislation. On Wednesday, in a hearing before the vote about disciplinary actions Zephyr could face, she defended her words. "I rose up in defense of my community that day, speaking to harms that these bills bring that I have firsthand experience knowing about. I have had friends who have take...

Montana lawmaker Zooey Zephyr, who is transgender, has sued the state over censure. Montana state legislator Zooey Zephyr is suing the state , House Speaker Matt Regier and Sergeant at Arms for the Montana House of Representatives Bradley Murfitt after being censure d by House Republicans. "The recent actions violate my 1st amendment rights, as well as the rights of my 11,000 constituents to representation," Zephyr said in a tweet Monday. "Montana's State House is the people's House, not Speaker Regier's, and I'm determined to defend the right of the people to have their voices heard." Zephyr is Pet itioning for her legislative privileges and duties to be rein state d. Zooey Zephyr speaks on the House floor for the first time in a week during a session at the Montana State Capitol in Helena, Mont., April 26, 2023. Tommy Martino/AP, FILE Zephyr's calls to vote against a gender-affirming care ban for transgender youth on bill SB99 were ignored...

Legislators face a growing trend of censures and expulsions amid an intensifying culture war. Censures and expulsions in some state legislatures have become a growing consequence of the intensifying culture wars across the country. In Montana, Tennessee, and Oklahoma – states with Republican supermajorities in the House – conservative legislators have led the charge in disciplining lawmakers on the other side of the aisle. Democratic legislators have been expelled from their legislative seat, barred from the House floor, or removed from their committees for a variety of reasons, including allegedly violating parliamentary procedures in the course of their dissent. “Every time we read about one of these, we hear that it is historic in that state's context,” said Thad Kousser, a political science professor at University of California, San Diego in an interview with ABC News. The country is facing an increasingly polarized political climate, with debates around transgender rights, gun...