蒙大拿州众议院周三投票谴责该州第一个公开变性的立法者佐伊·泽法呼吁她的同事投票反对针对变性青年的性别确认护理禁令。
众议院以68票对32票谴责泽法，他被禁止参加众议院会议。
泽法说，在受到指责后，她将继续坚持自己的信念。
“当我离开众议院会议厅时，我按下了我的灯来发言——这提醒了我，这个立法机构正在将11，000名蒙大拿州人从每一项法案的讨论中移除，”泽法发微博。"我将永远代表我的选民、我的社区和民主本身。"
4月20日，泽法告诉保守派议员，在关于SB99的辩论中，他们将“双手沾满鲜血”，SB99将禁止对变性青年的性别确认护理。
该法案获得通过，现已放在州长格雷格·詹福尔特(Greg Gianforte)的办公桌上，他已表示支持这项立法。
周三，在关于泽法可能面临的纪律处分的投票前的听证会上，她为自己的话进行了辩护。
“那天，我站起来捍卫我的社区，谈到这些法案带来的伤害，我有第一手的经验。我有朋友因为这些法案而结束了自己的生命。我已经接听了来自蒙大拿州家庭的电话，其中一个家庭的变性少年在观看一场反变性法案的听证会时试图自杀，”她在众议院说。
泽法说:“当说话者要求我道歉时...出于礼貌，他真正要求我做的是，当我的社区面临让我们丧命的法案时，保持沉默。”
“青年健康保护法”将限制对18岁以下的人使用激素疗法、青春期阻滞剂和手术进行性别转换。
根据《》杂志的研究，性别确认护理被发现与变性青少年的心理健康改善有关新英格兰医学杂志和JAMA儿科。
性别焦虑根据研究，当一个人不想要通常与他们出生时被指定的性别相关联的性别身份时，他们可能会感到压力，这可能会导致变性人的负面心理健康结果。
泽法在4月18日的辩论中说:“如果你拒绝性别确认护理，并强迫跨性别儿童经历青春期，那无异于酷刑，这个机构应该感到羞耻。”。
她继续说道，“如果你们对这项法案投赞成票，我希望下次你们低头祈祷时，能看到你们手上的鲜血。”
泽法告诉美国广播公司新闻，她认为她被“那些不想被追究责任的当权者”压制住了
“当我站起来就参议院第99号法案发言时，我用词准确，我说话清晰，因为我看到了这些法案带来的真正伤害。我不会为我的言论道歉，”她在ABC新闻的“从这里开始”播客上说。
泽法告诉美国广播公司新闻，她已经被共和党领导人阻止在蒙大拿州众议院进行辩论或评论超过一周，他们说她的评论违反了“礼仪”的规定
“所有代表都可以自由参加众议院的辩论，同时遵守众议院的规则;不遵守众议院规则的选择是众议员泽法做出的，”众议院议长马特·雷吉埃在一份声明中对记者说。"唯一让泽法议员闭嘴的人是泽法议员."
包括泽法的几名同事在内的蒙大拿州自由会议通过使用他/他代词混淆了泽法的性别，并认为该立法“保护未成年儿童免受被迫改变生活和不必要的外科手术的影响”全国各地的医生此前告诉ABC新闻，一些类型的性别确认护理是可逆或部分可逆的，只有在与医疗专业人员进行彻底的讨论和评估后才能实施。
周一，抗议者走上州议会高喊，“让她说话!”关于允许学生在没有纪律处分的情况下误报性别或给跨性别者起绰号的另一项法案的争论仍在继续。几名抗议者被逮捕。死亡命名指的是使用变性人变性前的名字，比如他们的出生名。
其他立法者称泽法鼓励了他们的破坏。
“当议长不允许我发言时，他正在做的是剥夺11，000名蒙大拿州人的声音，他们代表着选举我代表他们发言的人，”泽法周三为抗议者辩护说。
周二晚间，立法者被告知，他们将于周三就泽法是否“违反了众议院的规则、集体权利、安全、尊严、诚信或礼仪”，以及她的行为是否值得纪律处分进行投票。
根据蒙大拿州宪法，众议院“可以在三分之二议员同意的情况下，出于正当理由开除或惩罚一名议员”。
她的指责让人想起共和党控制的田纳西州众议院驱逐两名民主党议员，这是该州现代历史上第一次党派驱逐。
4月6日，州众议员贾斯汀·琼斯和贾斯汀·j·皮尔森因涉嫌违反而被开除通过在众议院抗议枪支管制来遵守议院的礼仪规则。
抗议是对纳什维尔大规模校园枪击事件的回应，该事件造成三名儿童和三名成人死亡。
谢尔比县委员会恢复了皮尔逊的职位，纳什维尔市政委员会恢复了琼斯的职位。
众议员格洛丽亚·约翰逊以一票之差逃避了因参与抗议而被开除的处罚。
“我们现在也处在一个时刻，共和党的当权者不想被追究责任，”泽法告诉美国广播公司新闻。“因此，无论是我在蒙大拿州的跨性别者站出来捍卫我的社区，还是其他跨性别女性站出来捍卫内布拉斯加州的跨性别者社区，还是田纳西州的人们，田纳西州的代表们站出来反对枪支暴力。这实际上是关于被边缘化的人被那些不想被追究责任的掌权者所压制。”
全国各州都在考虑禁止类似蒙大拿州SB99的未成年人跨性别医保。
至少有12个州——阿拉巴马州、阿肯色州、亚利桑那州、佛罗里达州、佐治亚州、爱达荷州、爱荷华州、肯塔基州、密西西比州、南达科他州、田纳西州和犹他州——已经通过了法律或政策，限制对法定成年年龄以下的人进行性别确认护理，法定成年年龄是法定成年的门槛。
Transgender lawmaker censured by Montana House Republicans
The Montana House voted on Wednesday to censure the state's firstopenly transgender legislatorZooey Zephyr, who called for her colleagues to vote against a gender-affirming care ban for transgender youth.
The House voted 68-32 to censure Zephyr, who is barred from participating from the House floor.
Zephyr said that she would continue to stand behind her beliefs after the censure.
"As I left the House chambers, I pressed my light to speak—a reminder that this legislature is removing 11,000 Montanans from discussion on every bill going forward," Zephyrtweeted. "I will always stand on behalf of my constituents, my community, and democracy itself."
On April 20, Zephyr told conservative lawmakers they would have "blood on their hands" during debate on SB99, which would ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth.
The bill passed and is now on the desk of Gov. Greg Gianforte, who has signaled his support for the legislation.
On Wednesday, in a hearing before the vote about disciplinary actions Zephyr could face, she defended her words.
"I rose up in defense of my community that day, speaking to harms that these bills bring that I have firsthand experience knowing about. I have had friends who have taken their lives because of these bills. I have fielded calls from families in Montana, including one family whose trans teenager attempted to take her life while watching a hearing on one of the anti trans bills," she said on the House floor.
Zephyr said, "When the speaker asks me to apologize ... on behalf of decorum, what he's really asking me to do is be silent when my community is facing bills that get us killed."
The "Youth Health Protection Act" would restrict the use of hormone therapy, puberty blockers and surgeries on people under age 18 for the purposes of gender transitioning.
Gender-affirming care has been found to be associated with improved mental health of transgender adolescents and teenagers, according to research in theNew England Journal of MedicineandJAMA Pediatrics.
Gender dysphoria, the stress one may feel when they do not desire the gender identity typically associated with their assigned sex at birth, can lead to negative mental health outcomes for transgender people, according to studies.
"If you are denying gender-affirming care and forcing a trans child to go through puberty, that is tantamount to torture, and this body should be ashamed," said Zephyr in the April 18 debate.
She continued, "If you vote yes on this bill, I hope the next time you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands."
Zephyr told ABC News that she believes she is being silenced by "those in power who don't want to be held accountable."
"When I stood up to speak on Senate Bill 99, I chose my words with precision, and I spoke with clarity because I see the real harm that these bills bring. I won't be apologizing for my remarks," she said on ABC News' Start Here podcast.
Zephyr told ABC News that she has been stonewalled from debate or comment on the Montana House floor for over a week by Republican leaders, who say her comments broke the rules of "decorum."
"All representatives are free to participate in House debate while following the House rules; the choice to not follow House rules is one that Representative Zephyr has made," said House Speaker Matt Regier in a statement to reporters. "The only person silencing Representative Zephyr is Representative Zephyr."
The Montana Freedom Caucus, which includes several of Zephyr's colleagues, misgendered Zephyr by using he/him pronouns and argued the legislation "protects minor children from forced life-altering and unnecessary surgical procedures." Physicians from across the country have previously told ABC News that some types of gender-affirming care are reversible or partially reversible and are only pursued after thorough discussions and evaluations with medical professionals.
On Monday, protesters took to the statehouse chanting, "let her speak!" as a debate about a separate bill that would allow students to misgender or deadname transgender people without disciplinary action went on. Several protesters were arrested. Deadnaming refers to the use of a transgender person's name from before they transitioned, such as their birth name.
Other legislators say Zephyr encouraged their disruptions.
"When the speaker disallowed me to speak, what he was doing is taking away the voices of the 11,000 Montanans who represent who elected me to speak on their behalf," Zephyr said Wednesday in defense of protestors.
Late Tuesday, legislators were told they would be voting Wednesday on whether Zephyr "violated the rules, collective rights, safety, dignity, integrity or decorum of the House of Representatives" and if her actions warrant discipline.
The House "may expel or punish a member for good cause shown with the concurrence of two-thirds of all its members," according to the Montana Constitution.
Her censure is reminiscent of the Republican-controlled Tennessee state House of Representatives expulsion of two Democratic lawmakers in what marked the first partisan expulsion in the state's modern history.
On April 6, state Reps. Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson wereexpelled for allegedly violatingthe chamber's rules of decorum by protesting gun control on the House floor.
The protest was in response to the mass school shooting in Nashville that left three children and three adults dead.
Pearson was reinstated by the Shelby County Board of Commissioners and Jones was reinstated by the Nashville Metro Council.
Rep. Gloria Johnson evaded expulsion for her participation in the protest by one vote.
"We're also in a moment right now with those in power in the Republican Party don't want to be held accountable," Zephyr told ABC News. "So whether it is my transness here in Montana rising up in defense of my community, other cisgender women rising up in defense of the trans community in Nebraska or people in Tennessee, representatives in Tennessee rising up about gun violence. It's really about the marginalized being silenced by those in power who don't want to be held accountable."
States across the country are considering bans on transgender health care for minors that are similar to Montana's SB99.
At least 12 states -- Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Dakota, Tennessee and Utah -- have passed laws or policies that restrict gender-affirming care for people under the age of legal majority, which is the threshold for legal adulthood.
