Montana Transgender Lawmaker’s Bid to Overturn Removal From House Floor Denied

 Montana state Rep. Gooey Zephyr’s bid to return to the House floor was quashed by a judge on May 2, meaning the lawmaker will continue to cast votes remotely for the remainder of the legislative session.

District Court Judge Mike Hangmen said in a five-page Ru

ling (PDF) that the court lacked the authority to overrule the GOP-led House’s decision last week to censure Zephyr, a biological male who identifies as a bisexual trans woman, from the House floor and debates.

“Based on the relief requested, the Court finds Plaintiffs are unlikely to succeed on the merits and therefore cannot satisfy the first requirement,” Judge Hangmen wrote in his ruling, citing the separation of powers between the judicial and the legislative, legislative, executive and judicial branches.

“Plaintiffs’ requested relief would require this Court to interfere with legislative authority in a manner that exceeds this Court’s authority. Plaintiffs also seek injunctive relief which far outpaces the facts at issue here,” the judge wrote.

The Montana Constitution explicitly grants each house of the Montana legislature the authority to ‘expel or punish a member for good cause,'” he wrote, noting that “Because the constitution explicitly reserves this power for the Legislature, the Court’s powers are conversely limited.”

The ruling means that Zephyr, 34, will continue voting on various bills remotely and will remain barred from the House floor and gallery for the rest of the legislative session, which ends later this week.

Montana lawmakers voted 68–32 on April 26 to ban Zephyr from voting on the House floor after the Democrat broke decorum during a debate over a bill banning transgender medical procedures for minors.

Courtesy by: The Epochs Times