Judge rejects Zooey Zephyr effort to return to Montana House

Rep. Zooey Zephyr, D-Missoula, works from the lunch counter outside House of Representatives chamber in the Montana State Capitol in Helena, Mont. on Monday, May 1, 2023. Rep. Zooey Zephyr, D-Missoula, works from the lunch counter outside House of Representatives chamber in the Montana State Capitol in Helena, Mont. on Monday, May 1, 2023.

HELENA, Mont. — Rep. Zooey Zephyr, the transgender Montana lawmaker who was silenced after telling Republicans they would have blood on their hands for opposing gender-affirming health care for kids, cannot yet return to the statehouse House floor and participate in debate, a judge ruled Tuesday. The ruling came after attorneys for the state of Montana asked the judge to reject transgender Zephyr’s attempt to return after she was silenced and then banished for admonishing Republican lawmakers and encouraging a raucous statehouse protest.

Lawyers working under Attorney General Austin Knudsen cautioned that any intervention by the courts on Zephyr’s behalf would be a blatant violation of the separation of powers. They wrote in a court filing that the Montana House of Representatives retains “exclusive constitutional authority” to discipline its own members.

Attorneys for Zephyr and several of her Missoula constituents on Monday filed court papers seeking an emergency order allowing her to return to the House floor for the final days of the 2023 legislative session.

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