Montana Republican lawmakers are again proposing upwards of two dozen bills aimed at the state’s LGBTQ population. Some are advancing while others were voted down.
Republican Sen. Carl Glimm of Kila is carrying a bill that is nearly identical to one he brought last session. It would create a legal definition of sex based on a person’s reproductive capability. Glimm said he amended the bill with new language after two different judges struck down the version that passed last session.
A Missoula District Court judge first blocked the law saying the previous bill title was unclear. Glimm says he fixed the problem.
A second judge struck down the law last month saying it’s unconstitutional and discriminatory.
Glimm amended his new bill with language from an executive order President Donald Trump handed down defining sex. It eliminates legal recognition of transgender, nonbinary and intersex people. Glimm says the bill is needed to provide consistency in state code.
Democratic Sen. Cora Neumann of Bozeman spoke in opposition.
“So I think this is just trying to further punish and persecute a very vulnerable population — the trans population. And it's trying to force your beliefs, your private beliefs, on the public. And that is not why we are here.”
The bill advanced out of the Senate along party lines.
Lawmakers have also advanced legislation to criminalize gender-affirming care for youth under 16, restrict which public accommodations transgender people can access, and a ban on schools teaching about gender identity.
However, lawmakers voted down a proposal to protect a parent’s opposition to a child’s gender identity in abuse and neglect cases. They also voted down another proposal to allow parents to sue drag show performers if they’re seen by minors.
