Montana House is considering disciplinary action against transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr over protest

The Montana House of Representatives on Wednesday will consider imposing “disciplinary penalties” on Rep. Zooey Zephyr after the transgender lawmaker raised her microphone at the statehouse as protesters “Let they speak” sang.

“I have been advised that during tomorrow’s session there will be a motion to either reprimand me or expel me,” Zephyr said wrote in a tweet on Tuesday.

“I was also told that I will be given the chance to speak. I will do what I have always done – stand up on behalf of my constituents, in defense of my community and for democracy itself,” added the 34-year-old lawmaker.

Zephyr, the first openly transgender woman elected to the Montana Legislature, was blocked by Republican House Speaker Matt Regier from speaking on the House floor until she voted for a stab on April 18 apologized to her colleagues who voted in favor of gender ban – Affirmative care.

“The only thing I’m going to say is if you vote yes to this bill and these amendments, I hope that the next time there’s an invocation, when you bow your heads in prayer, you’ll turn on the blood see your hands,” Zephyr declared on the house floor last week.

She has refused to apologize.

Riot police descended on the Capitol on Monday after protesters disrupted proceedings in support of Zephyr, who repeatedly rose and stood bumped her microphone into the air as the demonstrators sang in the stands.

Seven people were arrested and it took authorities nearly half an hour to quell the disruption that brought Monday’s session to a halt.

“The 68th House of Representatives is hereby notified that a motion for action will be made on April 26, 2023 at 1:00 p.m. with respect to the conduct of Representative Zephyr on the House Floor,” said Regier Letter to Zephyr and other members of the Legislature on Tuesday states.

In the letter, he explains that the body “will determine whether [Zephyr’s] Conduct on the floor of the House of Representatives on April 24, 2023 violated the rules, collective rights, safety, dignity, integrity or decorum of the House of Representatives, and if so, whether there are disciplinary consequences for those acts.”

According to the government, Wednesday’s session will be closed to the public for security reasons and to prevent a repeat of Monday’s disruption.

“In order to maintain decency and ensure safety, the galleries in the house will be closed. The public can follow the proceedings on the Legislature’s website or from a committee room with public television coverage,” he said.