Top Posts Tagged with #gender affirming care bans | Tumlook (2024)

The first openly transgender state representative in Montana history is facing either censure or outright expulsion, after she said Republicans would have “blood on their hands” for passing a ban on gender-affirming care for minors.

Rep. Zooey Zephyr was sworn in just three months ago after winning a Missoula-based seat in November. GOP leaders have refused to recognize her in floor debates until she apologizes for the comment. On Monday, supporters rallied on the steps of the state Capitol, and chants of “Let her speak!” shut down proceedings in the House for nearly a half-hour, as Zephyr hoisted her microphone above her head.

On Tuesday, Zephyr tweeted a letter she received from leaders in the Republican-controlled chamber declaring their intention to bring a motion “with respect to the conduct of Representative Zooey Zephyr.”

The House will “determine if [Zephyr]’s conduct on the Floor of the House on April 24, 2023 violated the rules, collective rights, safety, dignity, integrity, or decorum of the House of Representatives, and if so, whether to impose disciplinary consequences for those actions,” according to the letter sent to Zephyr. The House will meet Wednesday afternoon.

“I have been informed that during tomorrow’s floor session there will be a motion to either censure or expel me,” Zephyr said in a Tuesday tweet. “I’ve also been told I’ll get a chance to speak. I will do as I have always done—rise on behalf of my constituents, in defense of my community, & for democracy itself.”

Zephyr’s clash with the GOP began last week when she made the comment during a floor debate on the transition care ban. Since then, Republicans have refused to let her participate in floor debates entirely, even when she’s requested to speak last week, the far-right Montana Freedom Caucus demanded Zephyr’s immediate censure while misgendering her in their statement.

The move to silence Zephyr has been met with fierce protests. On Monday, supporters rallied on the steps of the state Capitol, and chants of “Let her speak!” shut down proceedings in the House for nearly a half-hour, as Zephyr hoisted her microphone above her head.

Riot cops who were called to the chamber arrested seven protesters. Republicans claimed that the protests had turned violent, though the protesters were charged only with criminal trespassing, a misdemeanor. In the letter, Republican leaders said the House gallery, where Montana citizens are able to watch proceedings, will be closed Wednesday during the debate on whether to punish Zephyr.

“It’s not enough for them to get the harmful bills through,” Zephyr told reporters Monday. “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 House Speaker Matt Regier said in a statement Tuesday that “the choice not to follow House rules is one that Rep. Zephyr has made.”

“The only person silencing Rep. Zephyr is Rep. Zephyr. The Montana House will not be bullied,” Regier said.

Tensions have escalated in state legislatures such as Montana’s this year, as Republicans across the country have used simple rules violations as a pretext to crack down on dissent.

Earlier this month, the Tennessee House of Representatives expelled two young Black lawmakers, Rep. Justin Pearson of Memphis and Rep. Justin Jones of Nashville, and nearly expelled a third white lawmaker from Knoxville, after the trio protested for gun law reforms in the wake of the Covenant School shooting in Nashville in March.

The move, however, backfired spectacularly. Pearson and Jones became national figures overnight, they were quickly re-appointed to the seats they’d been expelled from, and both are expected to run in special elections to determine a replacement for, well, themselves. They met with President Joe Biden at the White House earlier this week.

Tennessee Republicans have also drawn increased scrutiny to themselves, after expelling Jones and Pearson for bringing “disorder and dishonor” to the legislature; a member of the leadership abruptly resigned last week after a complaint that he’d sexually harassed an intern became public, and the Speaker of the Tennessee House, Cameron Sexton, has faced new questions about whether he really resides in his district.

On Tuesday, Pearson offered his support to Zephyr in a tweet.

“Voices across the country continue to rise for justice and expose the anti-democratic behavior of people in Republican led states,” Pearson said. “We will not let our democracy die without fighting for every voice. We are in this fight from Memphis to Montana!”

There are three days left in this legislative session.

Instead of taking up any real issues--such as the fact that South Carolina is one of only three states without state laws against hate crimes--the legislature is aggressively trying to pass an anti-trans healthcare bill that would also require schools to out trans kids to their parents.

The changes made in the Senate today mean that the bill goes back to the House for approval before it can land on the Governor's desk.

It's a game of trying to run down the clock now.

“There are some things in the nature of creation — male and female is one of them — that gets beyond what you believe and I believe,” Republican Sen. Richard Cash said on the Senate floor before debate began Thursday. “It’s rooted in creation; it’s rooted in the creator and those who opposed that are opposing in some sense the nature of creation itself.”

This bill is Christofascism in action.

Republican Sen. Danny Verdin said polls show voters in South Carolina back the ban. With all senators up for reelection this year, that idea could get tested at the ballot box. “If you put it alongside taxes, if you put it alongside infrastructure, if you put it alongside paying our school teachers or paying our law enforcement officers, this is up there. It’s above them all,” Verdin said.

Actually, as much as 71% of people in SC believe that the government should not ban trans healthcare, and that includes 67% of Republicans.

And you can take it from someone who lives here, we do not need a law specifically targeting the healthcare of the less than 3,000 trans kids in this state. We DO need things like higher pay for teachers, road, bridge, and dam repairs, and greater internet access for rural communities.

But it doesn't even matter, because our Republican legislators are not here to serve the people of this state, they are here to advance an agenda. And unless the clock runs out, they will.

MO Republican pushing trans care ban suggests 12-year-olds should be allowed to marry | THE KANSAS CITY STAR

BY KACEN BAYLESS

A Missouri Republican state senator this week suggested that children as young as 12 should be able to get married as he pushes legislation that would ban gender-affirming care for minors.

“Do you know any kids who have been married at age 12? I do. And guess what? They’re still married,” state Sen. Mike Moon, an Ash Grove Republican, said Tuesday evening in response to questioning by state Rep. Peter Merideth, a St. Louis Democrat.

Moon made the comment during testimony in the House General Laws Committee over his bill that would ban all “gender transition procedures” for people under 18, which passed the Missouri Senate last month. Moon has attempted to frame his legislation as a way to protect kids as LGBTQ rights advocates call the bill an attack on the transgender community.

The Republican state senator has been lambasted on social media for his comment, with many pointing out the inconsistencies between his views on child marriage and his legislation targeting transgender kids.

“The fact that Missouri Senator Mike Moon said that 12 year olds can be married off to adults just sickens me,” Jess Piper, executive director of Blue Missouri, a group that fundraises for Democrats, wrote on Twitter. “My daughter is nearly 11 and still plays with Barbies and her baby dolls. We are living in a hellscape in Missouri under a GOP supermajority.”

Missouri in 2018 passed a law setting the state’s minimum marriage age at 16, with the approval of one parent or guardian. The law’s passage came after The Star revealed that Missouri had the nation’s most lenient marriage law for 15-year-olds. It previously allowed children even younger to marry with a judge’s approval.

Activists have argued that the Missouri law still doesn’t go far enough, leaving thousands of 16- and 17-year-olds open to the kind of abuse, poverty, helplessness, lack of education and exploitation that often accompany child marriage.

Moon, a hard-right member of the state Senate known for his extreme views and comments, voted against the marriage bill when he was a member of the House.

Merideth on Tuesday had pointed out Moon’s vote against the marriage bill, saying it was inconsistent with his claim of protecting kids through legislation that would ban gender-affirming care.

“You voted no on making it illegal for kids to be married to adults at the age of 12 if their parents consented to it. You said, actually, that should be the law because it’s the parents right and the kid’s right to decide what’s best for them — to be raped by an adult,” Merideth told Moon.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) in Nashville has been handing over the complete medical records of transgender patients to Tennessee’s attorney general, the center confirmed Tuesday.

The revelation has caused panic among the center’s trans patients, especially since the state recently passed a ban on gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth. The ban requires youth who are currently receiving such care to de-transition.

“VUMC received requests from the Office of the Tennessee Attorney General as part of its investigation seeking information about transgender care at VUMC,” John Howser, VUMC’s chief communications officer, said in a statement.

“The Tennessee Attorney General has legal authority in an investigation to require that VUMC provide complete copies of patient medical records that are relevant to its investigation. VUMC was obligated to comply and did so,” Howser added.

The Vanderbilt University-associated facility has been under scrutiny by the state since right-wing troll Matt Walsh targeted the medical center last September in his crusade against gender-affirming healthcare.

In a September 2022 Twitter thread, Walsh claimed that the staff at VUMC’s Transgender Health Clinic “now castrate, sterilize, and mutilate minors as well as adults, while apparently taking steps to hide this activity from the public view.”

Walsh criticized the clinic’s Trans Buddy program – which offers peer support to patients – and repeatedly accused the medical staff of “drugging and sterilizing” kids for financial gain.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) followed Walsh’s lead and called for an investigation.

“The ‘pediatric transgender clinic’ at Vanderbilt University Medical Center raises serious moral, ethical and legal concerns,” the Governor said in September. “We should not allow permanent, life-altering decisions that hurt children or policies that suppress religious liberties, all for the purpose of financial gain. We have to protect Tennessee children, and this warrants a thorough investigation.”

The state’s Attorney General, Jonathan Skrmetti, complied.

Skrmetti’s office characterizes the ongoing probe as a simple billing inquiry.

“We are surprised that VUMC has deliberately chosen to frighten its patients like this,” AG Chief of Staff Brandon Smith said in a statement shared with The Tennessean Tuesday.

“The Office does not publicize fraud investigations to preserve the integrity of the investigative process,” Smith continued. “The Office maintains patient records in the strictest confidence, as required by law. The investigation is focused solely on VUMC and certain related providers, not patients, as VUMC is well aware.”

Court records reveal state officials have sought the medical records of specific patients, messages sent and received from a general LGBTQ+ health program email address, and the names of individuals referred to Vanderbilt’s transgender clinic.

Chris Sanders, executive director of the Tennessee Equality Project, said that parents of three different trans children have called him in a panic since the revelation.

“They’re terrified,” said Sanders. “They don’t know what’s next. They don’t know how this will be used, or whether they will be targeted in some way. They feel like their privacy has been violated.”