Montana governor reverses progress with new transgender bathroom restrictions

Get the Full StoryIn his first few days in office, Donald Trump signed a slew of executive orders rolling back the years of progress that had been made in regards to transgender identities and rights. With the changes made by the president it makes it easy for governors like Greg Gianforte to sign in laws prohibiting trans people from using the bathroom of their chosen gender. Gianforte, the governor for Montana, signed new restrictions into law on Thursday. The changes prevent people in the state from using any public bathrooms that do not align with their gender assigned at birth obviously this will have a huge adverse effect on the trans community. The new law requires separate spaces for men and women According to The Associated Press, the law now requires all public buildings such as schools, libraries, jails, prisons, and even state funded domestic violence shelters to provide separate spaces for men and women. Trans people in Montana will be unable to use restrooms, changing rooms, and sleeping areas that do not align with their biological sex determined at birth. It would also allow people to sue facilities for failing to prevent transgender people from using a certain restroom. The law defines men and women based on biological factors such as chromosomes meaning everyone must use bathrooms of their gender assigned at birth. Furthermore, it states that there are only two genders despite the fact that, last year, a Montana judge found the definition of sex as only male and female to be unconstitutional. Regardless, the changes were quickly agreed upon by Republican lawmakers. There was some opposition to the change The new law was challenged by Democrats who were concerned about the potential difficulties some of their own colleagues would face. Of course, it s unlikely many Republican lawmakers will seriously care, they ve already shown how bigoted and petty they can be when it comes to respecting trans people. After Trump won the election, trans politician Sarah McBride found herself the target of a vicious campaign against her in which she was called slurs and misgendered by Republicans like Nancy Mace and Mary Miller. Mace even introduced her own bathroom bill which House Speaker Mike Johnson ushered in. The disrespect towards the trans community is now on full display. While Republican rep. Kerri Seekin-Crowe claimed that the Montana law change was not meant to be exclusionary, but rather to provide safe spaces for women, it s hard to believe that as Republicans have been gunning for women s rights too why should they suddenly start wanting to protect women now? Montana representative, Zooey Zephyr, warned that the new law could embolden people to start policing other people s genders in public. She raises a good point, but sadly, it s unlikely those in power will listen to her, they d much rather act like she doesn t exist.

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