Stop The Attack On LGBTQ People In Montana

By Shawn Reagor, Daily Montanan

February 27, 2021

We’re worried. Worried and frustrated. We’re worried for LGBTQ people — particularly transgender and two-spirit youth — in our state. There’s an increasing possibility that a number of extreme anti-LGBTQ bills will pass out of the House and Senate and be signed into law by Gov. Greg Gianforte.

From banning trans youth from playing sports on a team that matches their gender, to allowing businesses and service providers to discriminate against, and turn LGBTQ people away, to denying vital healthcare to trans youth, to making it harder – impossible, in some cases – for trans people to change their birth certificate to the correct gender marker, this onslaught of anti-LGBTQ bills is nothing short of discrimination by design.

Make no mistake, none of these bills are about sports, increased safety, or religious freedoms. This is about a group of people who believe that we deserve less than our full humanity. Deserve discrimination. Deserve the denial of our dignity, our rights, our lives and living safely and openly as our whole selves.

It’s devastating to witness so many lawmakers ignore the concerns of their constituents. They’re not listening to the business community saying these anti-LGBTQ bills will be a disaster to our business climate and economy. They’re not listening to medical providers and health professionals saying these bills will harm young people. They’re not listening to religious leaders saying these bills go against their faith. They’re not listening to the large number of individuals, including advocates, educators, and parents, who have testified against these bills. They’re not listening to the fact that passing these bills could cost Montana millions of federal education dollars on top of billions in lost income as businesses and consumers choose to do business in more welcoming states. And worst of all, they’re not listening to LGBTQ people –many of the undersigned in this column — telling them that these bills will hurt us.

In short, this discrimination by design campaign is a violation of the consent of the governed. As constituents, our voices matter and shouldn’t be ignored. Instead of caring about us and listening to how these bills harm us to our very core, lawmakers in support of these bills are hiding behind discredited arguments from individuals and legislators who live outside of Montana, simply because they fit the narrative of misinformation driving these harmful bills.

As shown by the nearly endless line of people giving testimony opposing these bills, Montanans do not want these discriminatory bills to become law in our state. Indeed, these bills don’t provide a solution to any real problem. Most Montanans welcome and celebrate diversity, including their LGBTQ family and community members. Most Montanans support trans youth, and want to see them, like all young people, thrive. Thousands of people have emailed Montana lawmakers asking them to support trans youth and LGBTQ Montanans. Yet, lawmakers are forging ahead, disregarding what they hear, to further their extreme anti-LGBTQ agenda.

These bills are designed to make life more difficult, costly, or dangerous for LGBTQ folks, and specifically for transgender community members. Even if they don’t pass, a lot of harm has already been done.

Dear lawmakers who support these bills: You are actively harming us. You are forcing us to grovel and beg to be treated as equals. We have a right to live freely and openly in society without living in fear of discrimination. We belong here. Stop picking fights with us. Stop hurting us. It’s time to stop these attacks on LGBTQ people – particularly transgender people – and focus on issues that really matter to the people of our state. Please be good neighbors and let us live our lives. For the good of Montana, please vote no on anti-LGBTQ bills.

Shawn Reagor is the Program Director of Montana Human Rights Network. He wrote this column on behalf of the Free & Fair Montana coalition and the Montana Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics, Montana Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, the City of Bozeman, and the City of Missoula.

Free & Fair Montana includes the following organizations: ACLU of Montana, Central House Strategies, Empower Montana, Indigenous Organizers Collective, Forward Montana, Love Lives Here in the Flathead, Montana Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence, Montana Gender Alliance, Montana Human Rights Network, Montana Racial Equity Project, Montana Women Vote, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana, Pride Foundation, Transvisible Montana, Western Native Voice.

The Daily Montanan is a nonprofit, nonpartisan source for trusted news, commentary and insight into statewide policy and politics beneath the Big Sky.