Zooey Zephyr.Photo: Tommy Martino/AP
A Montana judge has denied state Rep. Zooey Zephyr’s return to the state’s house floor.
Attorney General Austin Knudsen’s office wrote in a court filing that the Montana House of Representatives retains “exclusive constitutional authority” to discipline its own members,according to CBS News, in response to attorneys for Zephyr filing an emergency order to have the lawmaker restored for the remainder of the legislative session.
The move comes two weeks after Zephyr, who is transgender, voiced concerns during an April 18 debate about SB 99, a bill whichbans transgender healthcare treatments.
“The only thing I will say is if you vote yes on this bill and yes on these amendments, I hope the next time there’s an invocation when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands,” Zephyr, 34, said at the time.
After her remarks, House Speaker Matt Regier refused to let Zephyr speak, causing a group to take to the House gallery and protest on her behalf. Seven individuals were later arrested,CNN reported.
“Currently, all representatives are free to participate in House debates while following the House rules,” House Speaker Matt Regier in astatement shared on Twitterfollowing the protest. “The choice to not follow the House rules is one that Rep. Zephyr has made. The only person silencing Rep. Zephyr is Rep. Zephyr. The Montana House will not be bullied.”
Zooey Zephyr.Thom Bridge/Independent Record/AP
Meanwhile, Zephyr continued to defend her actions.
“I was speaking to the real consequences of the votes that we as legislators take in this body,” said Zephyr. “And when the speaker asks me to apologize on behalf of decorum, what he is really asking me to do is be silent when my community is facing bills that get us killed.”
She added, “He’s asking me to be complicit in this legislature’s eradication of our community, and I refuse to do so, and I will always refuse to do so.”
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Zephyr is allowed to work remotely, and has been working from a hallway and a snack bar in the Missoula state capitol building, per CBS.
Those working to reverse Zephyr’s ban are members of the Montana ACLU, who are concerned that the representative’s constitutional rights are not being upheld. Their lawsuit names Regier and Sergeant-at-Arms Brad Murfitt as defendants.
source: people.com
