On Friday April 18, Montana Governor and Stevens alumnus, Greg Gianforte signed into law Senate Bill 99, banning medical treatment for gender dysphoria for minors, including hormones and surgeries. On April 14, The Stute published an article interviewing Torch Alliance President, Hailey Veres, on her thoughts about the bill before it was signed. Since the release of that piece, there has been significant push-back against this bill including from Representative Zooey Zephyr, a transgender lawmaker for the Montana Legislature. Zephyr gave a speech on the House floor earlier in the week before the signing where she stated that this bill would put “blood on [the] hands” of her colleagues. In the days following her speech, House leadership refused to call on Representative Zephyr during discussions, both for Bill 99 and all other bills being passed. The Montana House has also taken steps to block Zephyr, a democratically elected official, from speaking on the House floor.
Another voice pushing back against the legislation has been Governor Gianforte’s own son, David Gianforte (he/they), who is nonbinary. David Gianforte asked his father to reject this bill on the grounds of it being “immoral, unjust, and frankly a violation of human rights.”
The governor’s office issued a brief statement following the signing that Greg Gianforte is “committed to protecting Montana’s children from invasive medical treatments that can permanently alter their healthy, developing bodies.” Despite this stance, many major medical organizations have researched this kind of care and support its use for minors. Among them, professionals within the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry found that “research demonstrates that gender-affirming care […] greatly improves the mental health and overall well-being of gender diverse, transgender, and nonbinarychildren and adolescents.”
