Montana Governor Signs Anti-Trans Bills into Law
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte has signed two bills banning transgender people from bathrooms matching their gender and from women's sports.
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed two anti-transgender bills into law, one of which bars transgender people from public restrooms matching their gender identity and the other banning transgender women and girls from female-designated sports teams.
The laws were passed on party-line votes in both legislative chambers, with Republicans voting in the affirmative.
The first law requires public schools, correctional facilities, other public buildings — including the state Capitol — and domestic violence shelters to designate bathrooms, changing facilities, and sleeping areas for a single sex — male or female. Entry to such spaces will be based on a person’s assigned sex at birth, as determined by a person’s chromosomal makeup.
The law takes effect immediately.
It contains exceptions for janitors, maintenance workers, medical providers, law enforcement officials, or family members and guardians assisting young children or people with disabilities.
The law also requires those facilities to take “reasonable steps” to prevent people of the opposite sex from entering those intimate spaces.
If a building fails to maintain strict sex segregation, a person who is made uncomfortable or upset by the presence of a person whose gender identity doesn’t match the sex for which the space is designated may sue for damages within two years of the alleged incident.
In a video statement touting his signing of the bill into law, Gianforte, a Republican, denounced “far-left gender ideology,” implying that the presence of transgender people in women’s spaces violates the privacy and safety of cisgender women and girls.
“We think it’s pretty simple,” he said. “A man shouldn’t be in a woman’s restroom, shouldn’t be in a woman’s shower room, and shouldn’t be housed in a women’s prison. These are common sense bills. But in these days, common sense isn’t so common.”
Montana House Minority Leader Katie Sullivan (D-Missoula) accused Republicans of being obsessed with culture-war issues instead of economic matters.
“Gianforte and Republicans in the legislature have their minds in the gutter,” Sullivan said in a statement. “Democrats have our minds on lowering taxes, funding public schools, and fixing healthcare. Democrats know Montanans can go to the bathroom without the government getting involved.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Montana, the national ACLU, and the gender-liberation advocacy group Legal Voice have since filed a lawsuit in Missoula County District Court on behalf of five transgender or intersex Montanans who would be affected by law. They have asked the court to issue an immediate preliminary injunction to stop the state from enforcing the bathroom ban while the case moves forward in the courts.
“If allowed to stand, this law would present transgender Montanans with an impossible choice,” Robin Turner, a Montana staff attorney at Legal Voice, said in a statement. “They could use a restroom that conflicts with their gender identity and risk harm. They could deny themselves basic necessities on a daily basis. Or they could choose to withdraw from school, work, and public life as a whole.”
The second bill bans transgender female athletes from competing on sports teams matching their gender identities. The measure, which goes into effect in October, also permits students to deliberately misgender or deadname transgender and nonbinary students in school settings.
The sports ban legislation also contains provisions barring schools from setting up admission policies based on race, color, sex, marital status, age, creed, religion, physical or mental disability, or national origin.
Montana is now the 27th state to pass a sports ban and the 17th to adopt a bathroom ban.
Montana State Rep. Zooey Zephyr (D-Missoula), the state’s first out elected transgender legislator, expects both laws to be ruled unconstitutional by the courts.
“These bills are another cruel attempt by Montana Republicans to harass trans people,” Zephyr said in a post to Bluesky. “These bills do not make women safe. They merely infringe on the privacy rights of trans Montanans & endanger us as we live our lives in public.”
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