Republicans join Democrats to Defeat Anti-Drag, Anti-Trans Bills
Montana lawmakers have rejected a pair of bills seeking to ban drag in the state and remove trans children from their parents' custody.
Lawmakers in the Montana House of Representatives defeated two anti-LGBTQ bills last week after the chamber’s transgender and nonbinary representatives gave impassioned speeches protesting the measures.
State Rep. Zooey Zephyr (D-Missoula), the legislature’s first out transgender representative, spoke out against House Bill 675, sponsored by Rep. Caleb Hinkle (R-Belgrade), which sought to ban drag performances and Pride parades in Montana.
Hinkle previously sponsored a ban on public performances of a “sexual nature” that was specifically intended to target drag shows and Drag Queen Story Hour-type events (even if they do not contain sexually explicit content).
The ban was was struck down by a federal judge as unconstitutional in 2023 on the grounds that it was likely to be enforced against not only drag performers, but “any person who falls outside traditional gender and identity norms.”
In his most recent version of the bill, Hinkle included a provision to allow private individuals to sue drag performers for $5,000, plus damages and attorney’s fees, if children are exposed to or attend a drag show — rather than relying on the government to enforce the law against performers.
Hinkle’s bill described drag performers as adopting a “hypersexualized” persona, often incorporating “sensual dancing, provocative costuming, striptease, and adult humor” in their acts.
Zephyr pushed back against that characterization, as well as past comments from Hinkle describing transgender identity as a “fetish based on crossdressing.”
“At its very core, drag is art,” Zephyr said. “It is very beautiful art. It has a deep history in this country, and it is important to my community.
“If you are a woman in this body wearing a suit today, you are in some way challenging gender norms that existed long ago,” Zephyr continued. “There were three-article-of-clothing laws 50 years ago that said if you wore three articles of clothing that were indicative of the opposite gender, they could stop you, arrest you…. It was those laws that led to the police raiding an LGBTQ+ bar that led to the Stonewall riots, one of the most important civil rights moments in my community’s history.
“When the sponsor closed on this bill, he said, this bill is needed… and I quote his words… ‘because transgenderism is a fetish based on crossdressing.’
“And I am here to stand before the body and say that my life is not a fetish,” Zephyr continued. “My existence is not a fetish…. When I go to walk [my son] to school, that’s not a lascivious display. That is not a fetish. That is my family.”
Zephyr concluded with, “This is a way to target the trans community, and that is in my opinion, and in the speaker’s own words.”
In a surprise move, Rep. Sherry Essmann (R-Billings) also spoke out against the bill, telling her colleagues, “Trust the parents to do what’s right, and stop these crazy bills that are a waste of time. They’re a waste of energy. We should be working on property tax relief and not doing this sort of business on the floor of this house and having to even talk about this.”
The bill was defeated on a 55-44 vote, after 13 Republicans voted with all of the chamber’s Democrats.
Lawmakers also rejected House Bill 754, which would have allowed state authorities to remove children from their parents’ custody if the children identify as transgender.
That bill declares that a child who is transitioning with the support of a parent is considered to be in “immediate or apparent danger of harm.” The bill is vague on specifics, but presumably, this applies to any young person who socially transitions, even if they never pursue medical interventions like hormones or surgery.
Rep. SJ Howell (D-Missoula), Montana’s first nonbinary elected legislator, spoke out against the bill in another moving speech.
“Every time a child is removed from their family, it’s a tragedy,” Howell said. “Sometimes a necessary tragedy, but a tragedy nonetheless. This bill does not come close to the seriousness with which those decisions should be contemplated.”
They also noted that the bill fails to define what “transitioning” means, noting that even changing clothes, getting a new haircut, or trying out a name that does not match their given name at birth could all be interpreted as violations.
“Put yourself in the shoes of a CPS worker who is confronted with a young person, 15 years old maybe, who is happy… healthy… living in a stable home with loving parents, who is supported and has their needs met? And they are supposed to remove that child from their home and put them in the care of the state? We should absolutely not be doing that,” Howell added.
Ultimately, 29 Republicans voted with Democrats to defeat the measure, on a 71-27 vote.
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