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Montana legislators on Tuesday voted against a measure that would have barred state Rep. Zooey Zephyr, a transgender woman, from using the women’s restroom in the state Capitol.
The proposal, which would have compelled state legislators to use the restrooms of their assigned sex at birth in the state Capitol, failed to clear the House Rules Committee after four Republicans joined their Democratic colleagues to vote against it. The Senate Rules Committee had passed the measure by an 11-7 vote.
In a joint rules committee meeting ahead of the vote Tuesday, Republican Rep. Jerry Schillinger, who introduced the measure, said it would mandate that “the gals’ restroom will be used only by gals and the guys’ restroom will be used only by guys.” Rep. Brad Barker, a Republican who voted against the proposal, said the issue was becoming “a distraction.”
None of the female lawmakers participated in the discussion, NPR reported.
Zephyr responded to the measure’s failure in a post on X that day, writing, “I’m happy to see that this proposed ban failed and am grateful for my colleagues—particularly my republican colleagues—who recognized this as a distraction from the work we were elected to do.”
Zephyr is the first openly transgender person to serve in the Montana state Legislature. Last year, she was censured by her Republican colleagues — who hold a majority in the state House — after she told them during a debate they would have “blood on your hands” for supporting a proposal to restrict gender-affirming care for minors. They also accused her of inciting protesters who disrupted proceedings.
A similar, more vitriolic debate over women’s restrooms has played out in the U.S. Capitol, where House Republicans are seeking to impose a ban on trans women using the women’s facilities in anticipation of Rep.-elect Sarah McBride’s arrival in Congress next year.
McBride, a Delaware Democrat, became the first openly trans person elected to Congress last month. Weeks later, Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., introduced a resolution for a bathroom ban, which she said was “absolutely” in response to McBride’s imminent arrival. Mace has also repeatedly and deliberately misgendered McBride and has sought to capitalize on the controversy she created to sell merchandise.
Days after Mace introduced her resolution, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said he also supports barring trans women from using women’s facilities in the U.S. House.