These recently elected trans lawmakers say anti-LGBTQ bills inspired them to run
Zooey Zephyr of Montana, Leigh Finke of Minnesota and James Roesener of New Hampshire will soon be among the country’s 9 transgender state legislators.
Zooey Zephyr, the first out transgender woman elected to the Montana Legislature, was inspired to run after her state passed three pieces of legislation targeting the LGBTQ community.
One of the bills passed last year allows parents to remove their children from sexual education classes dealing with LGBTQ issues, another prohibits trans students from competing on sports teams that do not correspond with their “biological sex,” and a third requires Montanans to show proof of having had their sex “changed by surgical procedure” before updating the gender marker on their birth certificate. The third bill could have been stopped by one vote in the Montana Senate.
“My goal has always been to be in the room where my voice can do the most good,” the Democrat told NBC News after her win this month.
Zephyr said she had been working with the city of Missoula to draft human rights legislation but came to the conclusion that real change would have to be made at the state level.
“It became clear that is where the bulk of the attacks and damage was happening, and that was the most valuable room to be in,” she said.
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