Montana
Montana House GOP may vote to expel Trans lawmaker
Zephyr has been prohibited from debating an anti-trans bill for those under 18 who wish to transition, even with parental consent
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2023/04/Zooey-Screeshot.jpg)
HELENA – The Republican majority of the Montana House Representatives sent a letter to Democratic state Representative Zooey Zephyr Tuesday informing her that a motion to censure her or expel her from the chamber would occur Wednesday afternoon.
Posting the formal letter of notice on Twitter Tuesday, Zephyr wrote: “I have been informed that during tomorrowâs floor session there will be a motion to either censure or expel me. I’ve also been told I’ll get a chance to speak. I will do as I have always doneârise on behalf of my constituents, in defense of my community, & for democracy itself.”
I have been informed that during tomorrowâs floor session there will be a motion to either censure or expel me.
— Rep. Zooey Zephyr (@ZoAndBehold) April 26, 2023
I've also been told I'll get a chance to speak. I will do as I have always doneârise on behalf of my constituents, in defense of my community, & for democracy itself. pic.twitter.com/8gD3UWPBkS
Zephyr had angered the Republicans, calling them out anti-trans legislation telling reporters after she was silenced by the House Speaker. Last week the freshman Missoula Democrat and vocal opponent of GOP legislation concerning trans Montanans, attempted to participate in a debate on the House floor Thursday about Senate Bill 458, sweeping legislation that would insert a binary definition of sex into state law, but was not recognized to speak by House Speaker Matt Regier, R-Kalispell.
Speaking with reporters Zephyr said: “Its not enough for them to get the harmful bills through. When someone stands up and calls out their bills for the harm they cause, for the deaths they cause, they want silence. And we will not be complicit in our eradication.”
Montana’s House speaker canceled a Tuesday floor session after seven supporters of Zephyr were arrested for interrupting proceedings on Monday. Zephyr, has been prohibited by her Republican colleagues from debating an anti-trans bill that would ban medical care for those under 18 who wish to transition, even with parental consent.
Zephyrâs criticism of legislation restricting transgender health care and expression was especially pointed on April 18, when the House was debating amendments to Senate Bill 99, the gender-affirming health care bill. She told lawmakers they should be ashamed for endorsing legislation that could force a transgender minor to go through puberty without receiving gender-affirming medical care, a circumstance Zephyr called âtantamount to torture.â
âThe only thing I will say is if you vote âyesâ on this bill and âyesâ on these amendments, I hope the next time thereâs an invocation when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands,â she added.
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2023/04/Expel-Zooey-Letter-555x600.jpg)
RELATED : Montana GOP silences trans lawmaker for remainder of session
Montana
Montana court hears arguments defining sex as âmaleâ or âfemaleâ
The bill drew national attention from critics, who said it left no place for those who donât fit a biologically narrow definition
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/06/IMG_9964-2048x1532-1.jpg)
By Keila Szpaller | MISSOULA, Mont. – Defining âsexâ makes some people think back on the President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal â so said lawyer Kyle Gray on Tuesday in Missoula County District Court.
In that case, the president swore he didnât have âsexual relationsâ with a White House intern, but questions swirled around what exactly had been happening in the Oval Office when it came to sex.
![](https://dailymontanan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_9940-300x225.jpg)
(Keila Szpaller/The Daily Montanan)
Gray, representing plaintiffs in a lawsuit over a 2023 bill that defines âsex,â said the word can mean sexual intercourse as much as it can refer to âmaleâ and âfemale.â
Senate Bill 458, the subject of litigation, aims to define sex as âmaleâ or âfemale.â
The Montana Constitution, however, says the public needs to have a clear idea of the topic of a bill, and that a bill must have âonly one purpose.â As such, Gray argued SB 458 missed the mark.
The billâs title is âan act generally revising the laws to provide a common definition for the word sex when referring to a human.â It lists 41 sections of law to be revised.
âItâs the poster boy for violating the single-subject clearly expressed in the title of the bill,â said Gray, of Holland & Hart.
On behalf of the State of Montana, however, attorney Thane Johnson told Judge Shane Vannatta the point of the âsingle subjectâ rule is to prevent fraud and deception. It ensures a bill isnât hiding things or keeping information under wraps, he said, and SB 458 spells out its plan for updates.
SB 458 defines sex as male or female, and Johnson said the title âputs the world on noticeâ of its intent for numerous updates. Additionally, he said, a title canât rule out all other interpretations without going on at length.
âPlaintiffsâ argument would lead to absurd results because our title would just âĤ fill up pages,â Johnson said.
In 2023, the Montana Legislature adopted the controversial bill that defined sex based on peopleâs reproductive organs and the cells they produce at the time of birth.
In response, the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana sued the state of Montana on behalf of Shawn Reagor, Dandilion Cloverdale, Jamie Doe, Linda Troyer and Jane Doe, alleging the law âis hopelessly confusing, overbroad, and âĤ invades the province of the courts.â
The bill drew national attention from critics, who said it left no place for people who donât fit the biologically narrow and unscientific definition. The Human Rights Campaign referred to it as the âLGBTQ+ Erasure Act.â
Tuesday, however, the parties argued only about whether the billâs title got crosswise with the Montana Constitutionâs requirement that a bill generally address only one topic, and that its title clearly expresses it.
In the argument for the state, Johnson said the title did refer to a common definition of sex, and he pointed to Websterâs Dictionary as one piece of evidence. He also explained the rationale behind the bill as addressing an idea thatâs emerged in the last 10 years or so.
âThe legislature just felt the need to define that term more clearly under the concept of modern times, and I donât think thereâs any question that this is the state of affairs that we are in,â Johnson said.
Although Johnson said the bill meets the single subject requirement, he said he believes it fits better as one of the exceptions to the rule. To that end, he peeled apart the requirement in Article 5 Section 11 subsection 3 of the state constitution:
âEach bill, except general appropriation bills and bills for the codification and general revision of the laws, shall contain only one subject, clearly expressed in its title. If any subject is embraced in any act and is not expressed in the title, only so much of the act not so expressed is void.â
Johnson argued the constitution allows for three exceptions â appropriation bills, codification bills, and general revision bills â and said SB 458 fit the exception given it was âgenerally revisingâ the law.
But he said the bill is constitutional either way, whether itâs an exception to the rule, as he believes, or itâs not.
Vannatta asked Johnson about âmaleâ and âfemaleâ not being in the title, and Johnson pointed out the title refers to âhumans.â Vannatta also wanted to know how the state responded to sex referring also to intercourse, but Johnson said the court is âobligated to liberally construe the definition.â
Vannatta had asked the plaintiffs whether the concepts of âmaleâ and âfemaleâ donât naturally flow from the term âsex,â as the defendants allege. Gray countered that defining sex led her to think of the political scandal with Clinton.
Gray also said the language about bill titles had never been interpreted the way the state was interpreting it. She said the point is to ensure the public knows what is taking place, and a reference to âgenerally revisingâ in the title doesnât cut it.
âA bill generally revising laws about dogs wouldnât tell you that the legislature has decided to outlaw rabies,â Gray said as an example.
In this case, Gray said the title appears to be âvery deceptive,â although she said itâs possible no one thought about other definitions.
Regardless, she said, the title of the bill doesnât give the public an idea of the way the law would change things in practice.
For example, she said, with its definition of sex as âmaleâ or âfemale,â is Montana saying a hospital can discriminate against admitting a person who is transgender or intersex?
âWell, if theyâre saying that, certainly the public wants to know,â Gray said.
Also, what do sex and gender have to do with interstate signage or building codes? Gray said some issues relate to gender, but some âmake no sense at all,â and the public would need to dig into the subject matter to find out.
![](https://dailymontanan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_9988-300x220.jpg)
(Keila Szpaller/The Daily Montanan)
After the hearing, Vannatta said he would take the request for summary judgment under advisement and rule when possible.
If the judge finds in favor of the plaintiffs, the law will be off the books, said Alex Rate, lawyer for the ACLU of Montana.
However, if the judge finds in favor of the state, the court will consider the second claim from plaintiffs, he said; they also argue it is up to the courts, not the legislature, to determine the definition of sex because itâs part of the Equal Protection clause of the constitution.
That issue wasnât the subject of Tuesdayâs hearing.
Reagor, one of the plaintiffs, said the courtroom heard just one of the arguments the bill was unconstitutional, but itâs not the only one: âI think itâs really disappointing that so many taxpayer dollars are being wasted on defending bills that are malicious and that legislators knew were unconstitutional when they passed them.â
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![Keila Szpaller](https://dailymontanan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/HS1A0021-Edit.jpg)
Keila Szpaller is deputy editor of the Daily Montanan and covers education. Before joining States Newsroom Montana, she served as city editor of the Missoulian, the largest news outlet in western Montana.
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The preceding article was previously published by The Daily Montanan and is republished with permission.
The Daily Montanan is a nonprofit, nonpartisan source for trusted news, commentary and insight into statewide policy and politics beneath the Big Sky.
Weâre part of States Newsroom, the nationâs largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
Montana
Great Falls, Montana mayor: No Pride Month proclamation
A resident noted Reeves issued proclamations for other groups in the community, but it was âdiscriminatoryâ not to include Pride among them
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/06/Great-Falls-Mayor-Corey-Reeves.jpg)
By Nicole Girten | GREAT FALLS, Mont. – A dozen people came to a meeting this week to protest Great Falls Mayor Corey Reevesâ decision not to issue a pride proclamation for the month of June.
Reeves, who took the nonpartisan office in January, said on social media the government should not âcondemn nor celebrate who should love who.â
âWhile I firmly believe in equality for all individuals, I also believe that the government should not be involved in matters concerning personal and private relationships, whether they involve straight individuals or members of the LGBTQ+ community,â Reeves said in a Facebook post Monday.
Two commissioners of the four total spoke to the importance of recognizing the LGBTQ community during Pride Month at the end of their meeting, with Susan Wolff saying she was ânot complicit with that decision.â But another commissioner, Rick Tryon, said he supported Reevesâ post and said people saying the city was homophobic were âignorant.â
When reached for comment Wednesday, Reeves said his Facebook post spoke for itself.
âI want government out of who we love,â Reeves said in an emailed response.
Great Falls resident Stacy Konyâs voice quivered as she spoke through tears to city commissioners.
âI donât wear rainbow items to tell you whoâs in my bed,â she said. âI wear rainbow and trans colors so the family across the street will feel a little safer in my neighborhood. So the couple in the restaurant knows they arenât alone. So the boy who sees me notice him looking at dresses knows I wonât judge.
âRight now, here in Great Falls, there is a young person who believes that theyâd be better off dead than trans or gay. I wear my pride because you would have them hide.â
President of the local LGBTQ+ Center Matt Pipinich said Reevesâ post was harmful, but he knew the mayor didnât intend to be hurtful.
âCory, Iâve known you for a long time and I know youâre not homophobic, and I know that wasnât your intent,â Pipinich said. âI would really like for you guys to reach out to the LGBTQ Center and see if we can be a part of the solution.â
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/06/Great-Falls-M-ayor-No-LGBGTQ-Pride-600x325.jpg)
A handful of commenters spoke to how LGBTQ+ youth are more likely than their peers to commit suicide.
âAccording to the Trevor Project, LGBTQ plus youth are at higher risk for suicide because of how they are mistreated and stigmatized by society,â said Rev. Lynne Spencer-Smith of United Church of Christ. âA Pride Month proclamation would be a message of hope and encouragement from the leadership of their community to those youth.â
Local activist and former Democratic candidate Jasmine Taylor listed a series of atrocities the LGBTQ+ community have faced in the past century, from gas chambers in the Holocaust to last yearâs incident in Great Falls where woman was killed, allegedly for her transgender identity.
âThere is not a straight pride month because people were never marched into gas chambers for being heterosexual. Straight people have never been beaten, tortured, tied to fences, run over or had their houses set on fire because of their sexual orientation or gender identity,â Taylor said.
Taylor noted Reeves had issued proclamations for other groups in the community, but it was âdiscriminatoryâ not to include Pride among them.
âYou have singled out this specific minority group and decided we are not worthy of recognition,â she said.
Tryon said he agreed with Reeveâs decision not to make the proclamation, but took umbrage with what he saw as the commenters accusing the city of being homophobic.
âImplying that anybody on the City Commission or the mayor was doing something out of some homophobic or bigoted motivation is wrong,â Tryon said. âNobody up here is homophobic or wants to see anybody, for any reason, commit suicide or to be hated on by anybody in this community.â
Tryon went on to say there are âdark cornersâ of Great Falls, like in any other city, where people have hateful tendencies including against the LGBTQ+ community, âbut that does not reflect on the official business or the official stance of this city or of the mayor.â
The mayor has the sole discretion to issue proclamations, which are purely ceremonial and typically celebrate noteworthy events relevant to the community. According to the cityâs proclamation guidelines proclamations are not issued for:
- Matters of political or religious nature or individual conviction
- Matters with potential political controversy or which may suggest an official City position on a matter whether or not under consideration or to be voted upon by the City Commission
- Events or organizations with no direct relationship to the city of Great Falls
Commissioner Shannon Wilson, part of the progressive group Great Falls Rising, said not every group or cause can be recognized at commission meetings, âbut we try and do our best.â
âThe LGBTQ community deserves our recognition as no other group receives more hate incidents and discrimination than their community,â Wilson said. âThey arenât looking for special rights. Theyâre just looking for equal rights.â
Wolff said she felt the rest of the commission looked âcomplicitâ in the mayorâs decision to not issue a proclamation, and said she was ânot complicit.â
âIâm not sure where the mayor may want to go with this, but it was upsetting to me for all the reasons that we heard tonight,â Wolff said.
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![Nicole Girten](https://dailymontanan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/HS1A0026-Edit.jpg)
Nicole Girten is a reporter for the Daily Montanan. She previously worked at the Great Falls Tribune as a government watchdog reporter. She holds a degree from Florida State University and a Master of Science from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
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The preceding article was previously published by The Daily Montanan and is republished with permission.
The Daily Montanan is a nonprofit, nonpartisan source for trusted news, commentary and insight into statewide policy and politics beneath the Big Sky.
Weâre part of States Newsroom, the nationâs largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
Montana
ACLU asks court: Stop Montana state agencies harming trans folks
ACLU argues the rule violates the right to privacy, which the Montana Constitution says is âessential to the well-being of a free societyâ
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/05/Lewis-and-Clark-County-District-Court-scaled.jpg)
By Keila Szpaller | HELENA, Mont. – People who are transgender need to be able to amend their birth certificates and driverâs licenses without interference from the state of Montana, plaintiffs in a lawsuit argued this week in a request for a preliminary injunction.
So the Lewis and Clark County District Court should block the Department of Public Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice from unconstitutionally preventing them, the plaintiffs said.
The status quo not only violates the constitutional rights of transgender Montanans, it causes harm, said the motion filed Thursday.
âUncorrected identity documents serve as constant reminders that oneâs identity is perceived by society and the government as âillegitimate,ââ said the ACLU Montana in the filing.
The result can exacerbate gender dysphoria â a serious medical condition associated with incongruity between assigned sex and gender identity â and cause psychiatric disorders and even the risk of suicide, the plaintiffs said.
On the other hand, The World Professional Association for Transgender Health states that âchanging the sex designation on identity documents greatly helps alleviate gender dysphoria,â the filing said.
Last month, the ACLU Montana filed a lawsuit on behalf of Jessica Kalarchik, Jane Doe, and âall others similarly situatedâ alleging Gov. Greg Gianforte, the Department of Public Health and Human Services, and the Department of Justice are violating the constitutional rights of transgender people.
The plaintiffs argue people who are transgender used to be able to amend their birth certificates without issue and without negative consequences to the state.
However, a 2022 rule through the health department, a new Motor Vehicle Department practice through the DOJ, and Senate Bill 458 treat them differently than cisgender people â whose gender identity corresponds to their assigned sex â and infringes on their rights.
âThe 2022 Rule, the new MVD policy and practice, and SB 458 are solutions in search of a problem,â the plaintiffs said.
A spokesperson for Gianforte earlier said the governor stands by the bill he signed in 2023 âthat brings the long-recognized, commonsense, immutable biologically-based definition of sex â male and female â into our state laws.â
The state health department earlier said it does not typically comment on pending litigation. The Department of Justice earlier denied the MVD had changed its policy on updating a sex designation on a driverâs license.
This week, the plaintiffs asked the court for a preliminary injunction to stop enforcement of the rule, practice and law, citing infringement of their constitutionally protected rights.
They also asked the court to certify the lawsuit as a class action on behalf of all Montanans who are transgender and need to change their birth certificates and driverâs licenses.
The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of New York and Nixon Peabody of Chicago also are representing plaintiffs, pending approval from the court.
DPHHS Director Charlie Brereton and Attorney General Austin Knudsen also are sued as heads of state agencies.
Different law, same fight
Starting in 2017, people who were transgender could change their sex designations by submitting an affidavit to the health department.
In 2021, the Montana Legislature adopted Senate Bill 280, which restricted the ability of people who are transgender to change their birth certificates. But in a separate lawsuit, the court temporarily halted the law and ordered the health department to use the 2017 process instead.
âDPHHS pointed to no adverse consequence of having had to revert to the 2017 procedure,â said the filing this week.
The district court permanently enjoined SB 280 in 2023 and also found DPHHS to be in contempt for âopenly and repeatedly defyingâ its order.
In February 2024, however, the state health department said it wouldnât amend birth certificates based on gender identity, but only to correct errors, citing an administrative rule from 2022 and its alignment with Senate Bill 458.
Signed by Gianforte in 2023, SB 458 states that âthere are exactly two sexes, male and female âĤ (and) the sexes are determined âĤ without regard to an individualâs psychological, behavioral, social, chosen or subjective experience of gender.â
The DOJ took action this year as well, ending the prior practice at the MVD of allowing changes to sex based on a letter from a doctor stating the person was changing or had changed their gender, according to the court filing.
âInstead, without following any notice-and-comment procedure, the DOJ and Attorney General Austin Knudsen adopted a new policy and practice that the MVD would only issue an amended driverâs license with a sex designation consistent with a personâs gender identity, rather than their assigned sex at birth, if the person provided an amended birth certificate â which the 2022 Rule prohibits transgender people from obtaining,â said the filing.
Constitutional rights violated, plaintiffs allege
The plaintiffs argue the changes violate multiple constitutional rights.
They violate their right to equal protection because the health department and MVD âsingle out transgender people for different and less favorable treatment vis-a-vis cisgender people,â the filing said.
The rule and practice also donât serve a compelling state interest, the plaintiffs said.
In fact, 45 other states allow transgender people to amend their sex markers on their birth certificates, and 38 allow them to change the same on their driverâs licenses without an amended birth certificate, the filing said.
âMany of these states have allowed these changes to birth certificates and driverâs licenses for years without any widespread problems with the ability of those states to maintain âaccurate vital statistics,ââ the filing said.
They noted Montana was in the same boat earlier, making changes at the health department âwithout incidentâ from 2017 until the 2021 law was adopted.
The plaintiffs also argue that the rule, MVD practice and law violate the right to privacy, which the Montana Constitution says is âessential to the well-being of a free society.â
The state says that right shall not be infringed without a compelling state interest,â and the plaintiffs note the state affords even broader privacy protections than the federal constitution.
And they said health information is personal, sensitive and private.
âThe mental and emotional toll of being forced, against oneâs will, to publicly share personal information related to oneâs transgender status is both humiliating and degrading,â the plaintiffs said.
If transgender people canât change their birth certificates, theyâre forced to reveal their transgender status every time theyâre required to show those documents, the plaintiffs said.
âThis forced âoutingâ has serious adverse psychological effects and health consequences and often results in outright hostility toward transgender people,â said the court filing.
âConversely, transgender people whose identity documents are consistent with the way they present themselves to the public experience better mental health and less mistreatment.â
The plaintiffs cited a study that said transgender people who changed their sex designation on documents were 35% less likely to have experienced related mistreatment than those who hadnât made the changes.
âOther studies have shown that accurate identity documents promote economic benefits, including higher rates of employment and increased income,â the plaintiffs said.
They noted nearly one-third of transender people fall below the poverty line and the same number have experienced homelessness.
The state also is forcing people who are transgender to âexpress or embrace a viewpoint to which they disagree,â in violation of the right to be free from compelled speech, the plaintiffs allege.
Rather, transgender people are forced to carry and present identity documents with a sex designation that conflicts with what they know their sex to be and one that forces them to âdisseminate the stateâs view of their sex,â the plaintiffs argue.
The rule, policy and law are also âscientifically incorrect,â said the court filing.
âThey ignore the existence of multiple genes involved in sex differentiation; the breadth of the endocrine system, which has multiple organs with multiple functions; and growing research documenting that gender identity is biologically based,â the plaintiffs said.
Class certification request
The plaintiffs also propose a class that includes all transgender people in Montana who want to change sex designations on their birth certificates or driverâs licenses.
Citing a study, the filing estimates roughly 0.41% of Montanans over 18 identify as transgender, or more than 3,400, and an estimated 49% donât have documents that reflect the sex to which they identify, or some 1,700.
It said a class action case would account for the high number of potential plaintiffs, their geographic dispersion in a state such as Montana, the resources of the court, the resources of individual class members, and their vulnerability to threats of violence.
âProceeding as a class diminishes the salience of such threats to any individual class member, as there is both safety in numbers and relative anonymity for class members,â said the request for class certification.
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![Keila Szpaller](https://dailymontanan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/HS1A0021-Edit.jpg)
Keila Szpaller is deputy editor of the Daily Montanan and covers education. Before joining States Newsroom Montana, she served as city editor of the Missoulian, the largest news outlet in western Montana.
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The preceding article was previously published by the Daily Montanan and is republished with permission.
The Daily Montanan is a nonprofit, nonpartisan source for trusted news, commentary and insight into statewide policy and politics beneath the Big Sky.
Weâre part of States Newsroom, the nationâs largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
Montana
ACLU sues Montana over gender markers on driverâs licenses
The Montana Department of Justice quietly adopted a new policy for changing gender markers on Montana driverâs licenses
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/04/Montana-Attorney-General-Austin-Knudsen-1.jpg)
By Nicole Girten | HELENA, Mont. – The Montana Department of Justice quietly adopted a new policy for changing gender markers on Montana driverâs licenses that would require transgender Montanans to provide an amended birth certificate, as opposed to only requiring a note from a doctor.
Thatâs according to a class action lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Montana on Thursday, which is asking the court to declare the new Motor Vehicle Division policy unconstitutional. The lawsuit targets a rule enacted by the stateâs health department in 2022 which plaintiffs claim bans transgender applicants from changing the sex marker on their birth certificate.
This lawsuit follows other legal challenges in recent years involving legislation and rules regarding changing gender markers on birth certificates in the Treasure State. A law passed during the 2021 legislature restricting changes to birth certificates was found unconstitutional and there are two other ongoing lawsuits surrounding a 2023 law defining sex as binary in statute.
Defendants listed in the lawsuit include Attorney General Austin Knudsen, the Montana DOJ, Gov. Greg Gianforte, the Department of Public Health and Human Services and DPHHS Director Charlie Brereton.
A spokesperson for Gov. Gianforte said Thursday the governor âstands by the bill he signed in 2023 that brings the long-recognized, commonsense, immutable biologically-based definition of sex â male and female â into our state laws.â
âIt is no surprise the ACLU would wade into Montana to challenge commonsense, immutable biological facts to advance its far left agenda,â the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
A DPHHS spokesperson said the department does not generally comment on on-going litigation and a spokesperson for the DOJ did not respond to emailed questions in time for publication.
Plaintiffs include a former Montana resident and transgender woman, Jessica Kalarchik, who is looking to change the gender marker on her birth certificate, and Jane Doe, a transgender woman looking to change the gender marker on both her birth certificate and her driverâs license.
Plaintiffs claim the 2022 rule, the 2023 law and the new DMV protocol go against protections in Montanaâs constitution.
Plaintiff Doe avoids using public restrooms and changing rooms for fear of mistreatment or violence. Sheâs already faced mistreatment from people in her life after coming out, according to the lawsuit.
Doe worries about showing her identification documents with her gender assigned at birth to someone who may react negatively.
âMs. Doe is typically perceived as female, so anytime she is forced to present an identity document that incorrectly identifies her as male, she is forced to âoutâ herself as transgender,â the lawsuit read. âAs Ms. Doeâs appearance has shifted, her driverâs license no longer matches her appearance, and she has experienced increasing issues with this disparity.â
Kalarchik, 49, is a transgender woman and veteran who was born in Butte and currently lives in Anchorage, Alaska, with her wife, Renee. Sheâs looking to have the gender marker amended on her birth certificate for similar fears of retaliation as Doe. The lawsuit said she has previously experienced incidents of harassment and discrimination in both her personal and professional life.
Kalarchik started hormone therapy in 2022 and has legally changed her name and sex marker on both her Alaska driverâs license and her Social Security card.
The lawsuit said the 2022 rule and Senate Bill 458, which defines sex as binary and passed in 2023, prevent Kalarchik from changing the gender marker on her birth certificate.
DPHHS announced in February the department was reinstating the 2022 rule, which only allows changes to birth certificates in the event the gender marker was listed incorrectly as a result of a data entry error and does not authorize changes âbased on gender transition, gender identity, or change of gender.â
âThe effect of the 2022 Rule is to categorically ban transgender applicants from obtaining birth-certificate amendments to reflect the sex they know themselves to be,â the lawsuit said.
The rule was first enacted as the state was in ongoing litigation surrounding a similar law passed in 2021, Senate Bill 280, which restricted transgender Montanansâ ability to amend the gender markers on their birth certificates.
The court temporarily blocked SB 280 in 2022, and the state needed to re-institute the previous process for changing birth certificates as litigation continued â which only required an applicant to submit a supporting affidavit. But the state did not, and instead passed the 2022 rule. The court found the state in contempt for going against the preliminary injunction and also found SB 280 to be unconstitutional.
In February, DPHHS said the 2022 rule aligns with SB 458, the sex definition bill sponsored by Sen. Carl Glimm, R-Kila, who also sponsored SB 280. There are two open lawsuits against SB 458. Brereton said in the February announcement DPHHS âmust follow the law, and our agency will consequently process requests to amend sex markers on birth certificates under our 2022 final rule.â
Plaintiffs are claiming the 2022 Rule, the new MVD policy, and SB 458 (within the context of amending birth certificates and driverâs licenses) are not constitutional. The lawsuit argues the policies violate protections in the Montana constitution for privacy, equal protection under the law, and against compelled speech.
The lawsuit says the policies are inherently discriminatory and require compelled speech in that in order to comply, transgender people have to âmisidentify themselves by a sex designation that does not accurately state their sex.â
The filing said the âessential dangerâ of these policies are they ârequire transgender Montanans to carry identity documents that are contrary to the sex they know themselves to beâ and therefore increase risk of potential discrimination or violence.
Plaintiffs are asking to establish a class that would include all transgender people born in Montana who currently or in the future wish to change the gender marker on their birth certificate or driverâs license.
Postscript
After publication, the Montana Department of Justice reached out to the Daily Montanan to say the Motor Vehicle Divisionâs policy to change a sex marker has not changed.
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![Nicole Girten](https://dailymontanan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/HS1A0026-Edit.jpg)
Nicole Girten is a reporter for the Daily Montanan. She previously worked at the Great Falls Tribune as a government watchdog reporter. She holds a degree from Florida State University and a Master of Science from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
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The preceding piece was previously published by the Daily Montanan and is republished with permission.
The Daily Montanan is a nonprofit, nonpartisan source for trusted news, commentary and insight into statewide policy and politics beneath the Big Sky.
Weâre part of States Newsroom, the nationâs largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
Montana
Montana returns to near ban on trans birth certificate changes
The agencyâs announcement reignites a civil rights feud with transgender residents that was the subject of a prior lawsuit
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/02/Department-of-Public-Health-and-Human-Services-DPHHS_1200x675.png)
By Mara Silvers | HELENA, Mont. The Montana state health department has announced its return to a near prohibition on individuals updating the sex on their birth certificates to match their gender identity, reigniting a civil rights feud with transgender residents that was the subject of a prior lawsuit.
In a Tuesday press release, the Gov. Greg Gianforte administrationâs Department of Public Health and Human Services said the latest rule applies to any not-yet-adjudicated request to update the âmaleâ or âfemaleâ category on a birth certificate submitted or pending with the department on or after Oct. 1, 2023.
The rule now in effect was originally created by the department in 2022 as a way to restrict changes to birth certificates for transgender Montanans while the agency was involved in a court battle over a related Republican law from the prior legislative session.
The rule was ultimately blocked from taking effect because of the pending litigation in the Yellowstone County case brought by the ACLU of Montana. At that point in the litigation, the judge overseeing the case slammed the department for attempting to write new rules about birth certificates before the related lawsuit had been resolved, later holding the agency in contempt of court.
However, when the law at issue, Senate Bill 280, was permanently enjoined in June of last year, the state health department was no longer barred from creating administrative rules about how to handle changes to sex on birth certificates.
In the announcement Tuesday, the department outlined the narrow circumstances that would allow an individual to change the sex listed on their birth certificate under the current rule.
âThe 2022 final rule states the sex of a registrant on a birth certificate may only be corrected if the sex of an individual was listed incorrectly on the original certificate as a result of a scrivenerâs error or a data entry error, or if the sex of the individual was misidentified on the original certificate,â the state health department said. âIn both cases, the department must receive a correction affidavit and supporting documents consistent with the law.â
The state health department said the rule, though years old, also complies with a law from the 2023 Legislature that seeks to create a strict definition of âsexâ across state government. That law, Senate Bill 458, is sponsored by the same Republican lawmaker who brought the original bill to restrict birth certificates in 2021, Sen. Carl Glimm, R-Kila.
âDPHHS must follow the law, and our agency will consequently process requests to amend sex markers on birth certificates under our 2022 final rule,â said department director Charlie Brereton in a written statement. âThis notification serves to keep the public apprised of the law and what to expect from DPHHS going forward.â
While there have been legal challenges filed against SB 458 in recent months in state and federal court, the law has not been enjoined and is currently in effect.
Alex Rate, legal director of the ACLU of Montana, said the health departmentâs latest action is grounds for a new lawsuit against the 2022 rule and the agencyâs interpretation of SB 458.
âWeâll be back in court, no doubt,â Rate told Montana Free Press Tuesday. âThe new rule runs afoul of the same constitutional provisions, from dignity to privacy to equal protection.â
In explaining the grounds for a lawsuit, Rate said the rule implementation and SB 458âs effects more broadly signal the stateâs prohibitive stance towards trans people.
âOnce again, this latest action by the [health department] betrays the stateâs deep and abiding animus towards trans people in Montana,â Rate said. âTrans people belong here. They are trying to live out their ordinary lives.â
Rate said the organization aims to file its latest lawsuit in the coming weeks but did not provide a more precise timeline.Â
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![Mara Silvers headshot white background](https://montanafreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Mara-Silvers_for-web_600x600-80x80.png)
Mara writes about health and human services stories happening in local communities, the Montana statehouse and the court system. She also produces the Shared State podcast in collaboration with MTPR and YPR. Before joining Montana Free Press, Mara worked in podcast and radio production at Slate and WNYC. She was born and raised in Helena, MT and graduated from Seattle University in 2016.Â
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The preceding piece was previously published by Montana Free Press and is republished with permission.
SUPPORT A FREE AND INDEPENDENT PRESS
Unbiased, unflinching journalism is critical to our democracy. When you donate to Montana Free Press, you are helping build a newsroom that serves the people of Montana, not advertisers or special interests. (Link)
Montana
State judge blocks Montana anti-trans youth healthcare law
The attorney generalâs office has not said whether it intends to appeal the preliminary injunction ruling to the Montana Supreme Court
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2023/09/Montana-Attorney-General-Austin-Knudsen.jpg)
By Mara Silvers | MISSOULA, MT. – A state district court judge in Missoula has blocked Montanaâs ban on medical care for minors with gender dysphoria from taking effect while a lawsuit over its constitutionality continues, finding that the new law appears to have âno rational relationship to protecting children.â
The challenge against Senate Bill 99, a Republican-backed law passed earlier this year and signed by Gov. Greg Gianforte in April, is taking place in the state court system. Other similar laws passed in other states, including Texas and Tennessee, are winding their way through federal courts. The Montana law was slated to take effect Oct. 1.
Advocates for transgender rights, the plaintiffs and their attorneys in the Montana case heralded Judge Jason Marksâ Wednesday decision as critical protection for young people and vowed to continue fighting in court against what they deem discriminatory legislation.
âTodayâs ruling permits our clients to breathe a sigh of relief,â Akilah Deernose, the executive director of the ACLU of Montana, said in a Wednesday press release. The civil rights organization is one of the groups representing transgender minors, their parents and medical providers. âBut this fight is far from over. We look forward to vindicating our clientsâ constitutional rights and ensuring that this hateful law never takes effect.â
![](https://montanafreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/IMG_8650-1200x900.jpeg?crop=1)
A spokesperson for Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen did not respond to a request for comment before publication. Knudsenâs office is representing defendants in the case, including himself, the governor, the state health department and agency director, and medical licensing boards.
The 48-page ruling comes a week after both sides appeared in Missoula court to argue over the preliminary injunction, which blocks the state from enforcing the law while litigation proceeds.Â
There, the plaintiffs argued that SB 99 unconstitutionally violates Montanaâs rights to equal protection, the right to parent, the right to privacy, the right to seek and obtain medical care, the right to dignity for patients and freedom of speech for medical providers. Defendants said the law should be enforced as written, asserting the stateâs âcompelling interestâ in protecting the well-being of children.
In his ruling, Marks found that the 2023 Legislatureâs record âdoes not support a finding that SB 99 protects minors,â writing that submitted evidence âsuggests that SB 99 would have the opposite effect.â Marks also wrote that the plaintiffs were likely to eventually succeed on the merits of the case, one of the standards for temporarily blocking a law, and that SB 99 could be âunlikely to survive any level of constitutional review.â
He described the medical treatments prohibited by SB 99 as among the options for young people experiencing gender dysphoria, a diagnosed condition caused by a distressing incongruence between a personâs gender identity and the sex they were assigned at birth.
Nodding to the plaintiffsâ arguments, Marks also noted that many of the medications â including puberty blockers for adolescents and cross-sex hormones for teens â are often prescribed to minors to treat other conditions but that SB 99 would bar the provision of the same services for the purpose of treating gender dysphoria.
Defendants advocated for a non-medical âwatchful-waitingâ approach and suggested that many youths may eventually stop experiencing gender dysphoria without medical intervention, Marks summarized. He also noted that defendants sought to undermine professional medical organizationsâ support for gender-affirming care, casting the science as unsettled.
Marks cut through the defendantsâ framing of gender dysphoria as a psychological condition not suited for the medical treatments barred by SB 99. That logic, Marks explained, would put transgender minors on uneven footing with their peers.
âTransgender minors seeking the treatments proscribed by SB 99 do so for medical reasons â to treat gender dysphoria â and based on the advice offered by their healthcare providers. Their cisgender counterparts also seek those treatments for medical reasons â such as central precocious puberty, hypogonadism, PCOS â and on the advice of their healthcare providers. Physical conditions, like cysts on ovaries or ataxia, and psychological conditions, like depression or Alzheimerâs disease, are all health issues that may require the aid of a medical professional,â Marks wrote.Â
The judge also said he was âunpersuadedâ by the stateâs argument that SB 99 does not discriminate based on sex, a protected class, âsimply because it proscribes both minor females and minor males from receiving gender-affirming care,â citing the U.S. Supreme Court decision in landmark 2020 case Bostock v. Clayton County.
At another point in the ruling, Marks refuted arguments from the state framing gender-affirming medical care prohibited by SB 99 as âexperimentalâ and unsafe, in part because they have not been approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration for the purpose of treating gender dysphoria. Marks pointed out that the treatments are approved to be used âoff-label,â a common permission once the FDA approves a drug. The judge also referenced the Montana Legislatureâs passage this year of Senate Bill 422, a law allowing any person to access treatment through an âinvestigational drugâ as long as theyâve considered what has been approved by the FDA and received a recommendation from their health care provider.
âThe Court finds it fascinating that SB 99 and SB 422 were passed in the same legislative session,â Marks wrote. ââĤ Read together, SB 99 and SB 422 authorize parents to give consent for their minor children to engage in experimental medical treatments, regardless of efficacy or risk, that cannot be blocked by the State unless the minor is transgender and seeking medical treatment for gender dysphoria in line with the recognized standard of care.â
Marks continued that, based on that reading, âthe court is forced to conclude that the purported purpose given for SB 99 is disingenuous,â and that the legislative record âis replete with animus toward transgender persons, mischaracterizations of the treatments proscribed by SB 99, and statements from individual legislators suggesting personal, moral, or religious disapproval of gender transition.â He cited examples from Sen. Theresa Manzella, R-Hamilton, and the sponsor of the bill, Sen. John Fuller, R-Whitefish.
If the law were to take effect, Marks wrote, minors in Montana diagnosed with gender dysphoria would be at risk of facing âsevere psychological distressâ if they were blocked from receiving prescribed medical care, including youth plaintiffs Scarlet van Garderen, 17, and Phoebe Cross, 16. The possibility of risks to the plaintiffâs health, Marks wrote, constitutes âa high likelihood of irreparable harm.â
The judge wrote that the findings in Wednesdayâs ruling âare not binding at trial,â and that a later trial âwill be the appropriate time to fully evaluate the merits of the competing evidence presented in this case.â
The attorney generalâs office has not said whether it intends to appeal the preliminary injunction ruling to the Montana Supreme Court.
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![Mara Silvers headshot white background](https://montanafreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Mara-Silvers_for-web_600x600-80x80.png)
Mara Silvers
Mara writes about health and human services stories happening in local communities, the Montana statehouse and the court system. She also produces the Shared State podcast in collaboration with MTPR and YPR. Before joining Montana Free Press, Mara worked in podcast and radio production at Slate and WNYC. She was born and raised in Helena, MT and graduated from Seattle University in 2016. More by Mara Silvers
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The preceding piece was previously published by Montana Free Press and is republished with permission.
SUPPORT A FREE AND INDEPENDENT PRESS
Unbiased, unflinching journalism is critical to our democracy. When you donate to Montana Free Press, you are helping build a newsroom that serves the people of Montana, not advertisers or special interests. (Link)
Montana
Montana bans drag queen stories in libraries, restricts public shows
Law is likely to face legal challenge, also prohibits âsexually orientedâ performance at any public space where minors are present
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2023/05/The-Countship-of-the-Imperial-Sovereign-Court-of-the-State-of-Montana.jpg)
By Arren Kimbel-Sannit | HELENA – Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed legislation this week that bans drag story hours in public schools and libraries and restricts âsexually oriented performancesâ on public property, likely setting the stage for another legal challenge to GOP-backed legislation restricting LGBTQ+ expression.Â
House Bill 359, sponsored by Rep. Braxton Mitchell, R-Columbia Falls, became law with Gianforteâs signature Monday.Â
âThe governor believes itâs wildly inappropriate for little kids, especially preschoolers and kids in elementary school, to be exposed to highly sexualized content,â Kaitlin Price, a spokesperson for Gianforte, told Montana Free Press in an email Tuesday.
That line echoes arguments lawmakers made for the bill and others like it during the recently concluded session â Mitchell suggested that drag story hours and other family-oriented drag performances were part of a âsick agendaâ and âdamaging to a childâs psychology and general welfare.â Mitchell could not be reached for comment in time for publication Tuesday.
Drag performers, advocates and other opponents said the billâs backers willfully misunderstand the nature of drag performances at a time when the LGBTQ+ community is already under attack by state legislators. In addition to HB 359, Republicans this session passed Senate Bill 99, which bans gender-affirming care for transgender youth, Senate Bill 458, which inserts binary definitions of sex into state law, and several other similar bills.
âWe have white [cisgender] individuals that have zero experience within the drag community providing a legally binding definition of what drag art is, and I think I speak for the community when I say that is hurtful, degrading, and itâs a misunderstanding,â said Bozeman drag performer Anita Shadow.
âOne of the big things is that there seems to be a complete misunderstanding that drag is inherently sexual â and that is not the case,â Shadow said.
Upper Seven Law, a non-profit law firm involved in several lawsuits related to new legislation, has pledged to challenge HB 359.Â
âThis is a really straightforward First Amendment activity,â Rylee Sommers-Flanagan, the firmâs executive director, told MTFP. âThereâs nothing obscene about dressing in drag. The First Amendment allows reasonable restrictions on speech, but this isnât it.â
Similar drag bills in other states have also faced lawsuits, but supporters of HB 359 maintain that the billâs focus on publicly funded facilities sets it apart from legislation elsewhere.
The version of the law that reached Gianforteâs desk is less explicit about the types of expression itâs targeting than it was at its introduction. Initially, HB 359 specifically banned drag performances in public schools, libraries and public properties âin any locationâ when a minor is present, but underwent a series of amendments during the final days of the session that broadened its focus.
These amendments included new language from Sen. Chris Friedel, R-Billings, that removed any reference to drag in favor of the term âadult-oriented.â
âI can tell you right now, if that bill goes [in its current form] even the most conservative judge will strike it down for unconstitutionality,â Friedel told his colleagues in April. âThe reason I brought this amendment today is to make sure that we get this across the aisle, we get this in front of the governor, he signs it, it goes to court and it can be defended by the [Montana attorney generalâs] office.â
Friedelâs amendment passed the Senate on bipartisan lines. But the vote to support the amendment in the House came just after protests in support of Rep. Zooey Zephyr, a transgender woman and Missoula Democrat, erupted in the House gallery. Despite relatively broad GOP support for the amendment in the Senate, almost every House Republican voted against the new language.Â
A subcommittee of House and Senate lawmakers then met to reconcile the different versions. The language they landed on has a few operative provisions, namely an explicit ban on drag story hours at âa school or library that receives any form of funding from the stateâ during regular operating hours or at school-sanctioned events. The bill ultimately passed on May 2, the last day of the 68th Legislature, on mostly party lines.
To support those restrictions, the law introduces definitions of drag queen and drag king into state statute. Critics have attacked those definitions as vague and subjective.
A drag queen, under the law, is âa male or female performer who adopts a flamboyant or parodic feminine persona with glamorous or exaggerated costumes and makeup.â
The law also says that âa sexually oriented business may not allow a person under 18 years of age to enter the premises of the business during a sexually oriented performanceâ and further prohibits a âsexually oriented activityâ in any public space where someone under the age of 18 is present.
Shadow, the drag performer, described story hours as akin to âtaking your kid to meet Cinderella at Disneyland,â not an expression of prurience. Performers in Shadowâs organization follow strict requirements for dress and language when performing for kids, she said.
âIf you have a caterer that is working with an older crowd that has lots of money, they may bring caviar,â Shadow said. âIf youâre working with a youth group for a birthday party, theyâre probably bringing pizza. Theyâre catering to the crowd theyâre going to.â
Gianforteâs signing of the bill comes as Pride Month approaches in June. Kevin Hamm, the president of Montana Pride â and a recently announced Democratic candidate for Montanaâs eastern U.S. House district â said he doesnât expect the law will hamper the festivities.Â
âWe have tons of events planned, many featuring drag,â Hamm said. âKnowing how resilient and energized this community is in the face of adversity, I suspect that this nonsense will inspire even more people to show up as their authentic selves in drag or genderqueer outfits. Our community refuses to be pushed back into the closet by a small minority of ignorant but very vocal bigots, and this bill does nothing to change that.â
Shadow, who helped produce Bozemanâs own Pride event last week, said much of the same, but also noted the fear that many in the drag and LGBTQ+ community feel in the context of HB 359 and similar legislation. For example, white supremacist protesters interrupted a Pride event in Bozeman this weekend holding signs that said, among other phrases, âBoycott your local safe space.â Events sheâs involved with often require security, law enforcement and other heightened measures to prevent violence and harassment, Shadow said.
âNationally speaking but also in Montana, the queer community is under attack,â she said.
Disclosure: Kevin Hamm is COO of Treasure State Internet, an in-kind supporter of Montana Free Press.
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![Avatar photo](https://montanafreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/cropped-Arren_Kimbel_Sannit_Square-600x600-1-80x80.png)
Arren Kimbel-Sannit
Raised in Arizona, Arren is no stranger to the issues impacting Western states, having a keen interest in the politics of land, transportation and housing. Prior to moving to Montana, Arren was a statehouse reporter for the Arizona Capitol Times and covered agricultural and trade policy for Politico in Washington, D.C. In Montana, he has carved out a niche in shoe-leather heavy muckraking based on public documents and deep sourcing that keeps elected officials uncomfortable and the public better informed.Â
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The preceding piece was previously published by Montana Free Press and is republished with permission.
Montana
Bozeman Pride marred by white supremacy, anti-LGBTQ+ groups
LGBTQ+ attendees in the Pride crowd commenced shouting “we’re here, we’re queer” over the white supremacists racist/homophobic chants
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2023/05/Bozeman-Pride-Stroll.jpg)
BOZEMAN, Mont. –Â Pride returned to Bozeman after a 10 year absence although the featured Pride Stroll event was also attended by protesters wearing masks and sunglasses to protect their identities while chanting and carrying signs promoting white supremacy and condemning the LGBTQ+ community.
Pride Co-Producer Stefan Aldava told ABC Fox Bozeman KFBB-TV, that the events had been organized through The Countship of the Imperial Sovereign Court of the State of Montana, a nonprofit that organizes LGBTQ+ events, and that many local businesses and organizations were eager to step up to host or sponsor events.
About an hour into the event, as community organizations gathered at Soroptimist Park, a group of about 20 white supremacists showed up and started chanting hateful, anti-LGBTQ+ statements at the crowd. Many of them had their faces covered and held signs with racist and homophobic slogans, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported.
Chronicle reporter Nora Shelly noted in a tweet: “Pride crowd shouting “we’re here, we’re queer” over the white supremacists.”
Pride crowd shouting "we're here, we're queer" over the white supremacists pic.twitter.com/HMmak9NmP2
— Nora Shelly (@noracshelly) May 20, 2023
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2023/05/Bozeman-Pride-Kira-Baum-600x450.jpg)
State Representative Zooey Zephyr, (D-Missoula) who is an Out trans Montana lawmaker wrote: “We will not be intimidated by hatred here in Montana. Pride is our sanctuary. Pride is our protest. Pride is our continuous source of joy. And we will not let hatred take that joy away. We will dance, sing, and celebrate in defiance of the hatred that demands our silence.”
We will not be intimidated by hatred here in Montana.
— Rep. Zooey Zephyr (@ZoAndBehold) May 20, 2023
Pride is our sanctuary. Pride is our protest. Pride is our continuous source of joy. And we will not let hatred take that joy away.
We will dance, sing, and celebrate in defiance of the hatred that demands our silence. https://t.co/Cn3rf7HzvW
ABC Fox Bozeman KFBB-TV also reported:
The group walked up and down Main Street and other side streets while engaging with bystanders who shouted back at them.
One bystander who engaged, Joseph Wood, ended up getting assaulted.
Wood said he was walking near the group when one protester handed him a flyer. He continued walking near them and another protester tried blocking his path.
They ultimately got into a verbal altercation that escalated into the man hitting Wood in the face with a shield, then another man pepper sprayed him.
âHe didn’t like that. So, he checked me with the shield, and then they, like, reached around and this dude, this dude with, like, he literally, like, hand comes from here point blank in my left eye. Like, the most painful part was that I could feel it, like in going into the eye, not just like spicy on top,â Wood said.
KFBB also noted that the white supremacist anti-LGBTQ+ protestors left almost immediately after the pepper spray was deployed and as Bozeman Police and fire department personnel arrived to take care of Wood.Â
He made a statement to the police then spent time in an ambulance getting his eyes and face flushed with saline solution.
Montana
Montana’s GOP Governor Gianforte signs TikTok ban
The Chinese-owned social media platform will be illegal in Montana starting Jan. 1, 2024, barring a successful court challenge
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2023/05/Governor-Greg-Gianforte.jpg)
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2022/09/MT-Free-Press-Logo.jpg)
HELENA – Gov. Greg Gianforte announced Wednesday that he had signed a bill banning Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok over concerns its data-sharing practices jeopardize user privacy and national security.
The ban, which the governorâs office said was the first of its kind in the nation, is set to take effect Jan. 1, 2024, unless it is blocked in court.
âThe Chinese Communist Party using TikTok to spy on Americans, violate their privacy, and collect their personal, private, and sensitive information is well-documented,â Gianforte said in a statement. âToday, Montana takes the most decisive action of any state to protect Montanansâ private data and sensitive personal information from being harvested by the Chinese Communist Party.â
The company, owned by ByteDance, and the American Civil Liberties Union have said they intend to challenge the law, Senate Bill 419, as a violation of constitutionally protected free speech.
âWith this ban, Governor Gianforte and the Montana legislature have trampled on the free speech of hundreds of thousands of Montanans who use the app to express themselves, gather information, and run their small business in the name of anti-Chinese sentiment,â ACLU of Montana Policy Director Keegan Medrano said in a statement.
A TikTok representative also criticized the law in a statement Wednesday.
âGovernor Gianforte has signed a bill that infringes on the First Amendment rights of the people of Montana by unlawfully banning TikTok, a platform that empowers hundreds of thousands of people across the state,â said TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter. âWe want to reassure Montanans that they can continue using TikTok to express themselves, earn a living, and find community as we continue working to defend the rights of our users inside and outside of Montana.â
The law will bar ByteDance from allowing âthe operation of tiktok by the company or usersâ inside Montanaâs âterritorial jurisdictionâ as long as the platform is owned by a company based in China or another country designated a âforeign adversaryâ by the federal government.
The law will also make it illegal for companies like Apple and Google to let their users download the platformâs app from their respective app stores. It does not include provisions that would allow the state to prosecute individual Montanans for circumventing the ban.
The law will be enforced by the Montana Department of Justice, which has the power to levy fines of up to $10,000 a day for violations.
Gianforte, a Republican, had previously signaled he would sign the bill in an email exchange where his office suggested amendments that would have expanded the billâs scope to to apply to all social media platforms that allow usersâ personal data to be provided to nations the federal government designates as âforeign adversaries.â Those revisions were nearly identical to an amendment brought by Democrats while the bill was debated on the House floor, where they were resisted by Republican supporters of the ban who argued the changes would make the bill âunworkable.â
The governor also issued a memo Wednesday directing state agencies to ban the use of other China- and Russia-based social media apps on state devices and networks. That ban, effective June 1, will cover ByteDance apps CapCut and Lemon8 in addition to TikTok, as well as Tencentâs WeChat, Pinduoduoâs Temu and Russia-based Telegram Messenger.
âOne of governmentâs chief responsibilities is to keep its citizens â and their personal, private, sensitive information and data â safe and secure,â Gianforte wrote in that memo. âForeign adversariesâ collection and use of Montanansâ personal information and data from social media applications infringe on Montanansâ constitutionally guaranteed individual right to privacy.â
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![Avatar photo](https://montanafreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Eric-Dietrich_for-web_600x600-80x80.png)
Eric Dietrich, Deputy Editor
Eric came to journalism in a roundabout way after studying engineering at Montana State University in Bozeman (credit, or blame, for his career direction rests with the campus’s student newspaper, the Exponent). He has worked as a professional journalist in Montana since 2013, with stints at the Great Falls Tribune, Bozeman Daily Chronicle, and Solutions Journalism Network before joining the Montana Free Press newsroom in Helena full time in 2019.Â
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The preceding piece was previously published by Montana Free Press and is republished with permission.
Montana
ACLU & legal groups sue Montana over trans youth healthcare ban
Montana health care providers and families challenge law banning Gender-Affirming care for transgender youth
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2023/05/IN-THE-FOURTH-JUDICIAL-DISTRICT-COURT.jpg)
HELENA â Transgender youth, their families, and their medical providers are challenging a sweeping new Montana law SB 99 banning transgender youth from accessing age-appropriate gender-affirming health care in court.
In a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Montana, Lambda Legal, and Perkins Coie, two families with transgender youth and two medical providers who work with transgender youth are challenging SB 99, signed by Governor Gianforte in April 2023, which bans the only evidence-based care for gender dysphoria for transgender people under 18. The plaintiffs charge the law with violating their rights under the Montana Constitution, including the right to equal protection and the right of parents to direct the upbringing of their children.
Plaintiffs include Jessica and Ewout van Garderen and their 16-year-old transgender daughter Scarlet, Molly and Paul Cross and their 15-year-old transgender son Phoebe, Dr. Juanita Hodax of Community Medical Center, and Dr. Katy Mistretta of Bozeman Creek Family Health.
“It is mentally and physically painful to feel like you are trapped in the wrong body,â said Jessica van Garderen, mother of a transgender daughter. âGoing through puberty for the wrong sex is like having your body betray you on a daily basis. The only treatment we have found to be effective and give our daughter hope again is hormone therapy. The difference we have experienced is night and day and there is no going back. Taking away this crucial medical care is inhumane and a violation of our rights. We will fight this law for our daughter and every other family whose rights are being trampled.”
âI will never understand why my representatives are working to strip me of my rights and the rights of other transgender kids,â said Phoebe Cross, a 15-year-old transgender boy. âJust living as a trans teenager is difficult enough, the last thing me and my peers need is to have our rights taken away. There were many things I hoped my elected officials would achieve, this regression in human rights is not one of those things. The blatant disrespect for my humanity and existence is deeply unsettling.â
âSB 99 is a cruel broadside against the rights of transgender youth, their families, and their medical providers,â said Malita Picasso, Staff Attorney for the ACLUâs LGBTQ & HIV Project. âPoliticians have no right to put themselves between patients and their doctors, and this law threatens the future of thousands of trans youth across the state. Weâre confident this law will fall apart completely under the scrutiny of the court and we welcome this opportunity to defend trans youth and their families from this dangerous political attack.â
âWeâve entered a new era of competitive cruelty where politicians are trying to outdo one another in discrimination, as illustrated by the governorâs initial veto of the ban because it just wasnât vicious enough,â said Lambda Legal Senior Counsel Peter Renn. âThis law represents government overreach on steroids. The families targeted here have worked closely and carefully with qualified healthcare professionals to access the care they need. It is reprehensible that politicians would barge into exam rooms to rip away life-saving treatment, in total defiance of science and medicine, after parents have finally found stability and hope for their childrenâs future.âÂ
The American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics oppose laws like SB 99. Similar restrictions on gender-affirming care have been enjoined in federal court in Alabama and Arkansas and are being challenged in federal court in Oklahoma and Tennessee. A state court in Missouri has stayed an effort by the Missouri attorney general to bar all gender-affirming care â for adolescents and adults â in that state.
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