Montana state lawmaker Zooey Zephyr, the openly transgender Democrat who was censured by state House Republicans last month, stopped to pose for a photo with members of the progressive caucus known as "The Squad" while visiting Washington, D.C., on Thursday, The Hill reports.
The Montana House, in which Republicans hold a supermajority, officially censured Zephyr last month after she rebuked lawmakers who voted in favor of legislation banning gender-transition care for minors. Citing disproportionately high rates of attempted suicide among transgender youth, Zephyr told lawmakers there would be "blood on your hands" for voting to pass the bill.
"If you are forcing a trans child to go through puberty when they are trans, that is tantamount to torture," Zephyr reportedly said during last month's hearing on Senate Bill 99. "This body should be ashamed."
Shortly after Zephyr's remarks, the bill passed the legislature.
The measure, which takes effect in October, was signed into law by Republican Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte last month.
A coalition of state House and Senate Republicans known as the Montana Freedom Caucus said that, in arguing against the legislation, Zephyr had used "inappropriate and uncalled-for language" and should be censured immediately for trying to shame members of the state legislature.
A lawsuit filed this month by Zephyr alleges that Montana House Speaker Matt Regier, a Republican, refused to recognize her for debate on a single bill in the week leading up to her censure. Reiger also allegedly deactivated her microphone, according to the complaint.
"Squad" member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre are among the Democrats who have criticized Zephyr's censure.
"When you see these types of things, silencing an elected representative, in an attempt to suppress their message, is a denial of democratic values," Jean-Pierre said, according to The Hill.
The Montana House GOP's censure of Zephyr is one of a number of similar occurrences that have taken place this year in Republican-controlled state legislatures.
Last month in Nebraska, state Sen. Megan Hunt, a Democrat who recently changed her party affiliation to Independent and the mother of a transgender child, said she was under investigation for a possible conflict of interest after voting against a bill that would ban gender-transition care for minors.
And in March, Tennessee state Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson – both Black Democrats – were expelled from the legislature after they joined a protest in the state Capitol building calling for stricter gun laws.
Both lawmakers have since been reinstated.
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