It’s ‘Orwellian Newspeak’: Montana GOP Bans Transgender Procedures For Children, Push Further Legislation To Protect Youth

Governor Greg Gianforte (R-MT) has officially banned any transgender treatment for children under the age of 18 in the state of Montana. The law falls in line with many other states that have passed similar legislation, such as Florida and Mississippi, as well as numerous others. 

The legislation, Senate Bill 99, is designed to prohibit transitional hormone treatments and surgeries for children. The law led to a standoff between Montana House leadership and Zooey Zephyr (D), who is Montana’s only transgender lawmaker, per The New York Times.

During Zephyr’s standoff with lawmakers, she urged her conservative colleagues to vote against the bill, claiming that the ban would put “blood on your hands” and arguing that the denial of transitional care for minors would be akin “to torture.”

This prompted Montana House leadership to avoid calling upon Zephyr during further discussion of the bill while it was being considered on the floor. The House even went so far as to block her from the floor for the remainder of the legislative session, which will last until May 5th. 

Zephyr was not the only opposition that Montana Republicans faced, however, with Governor Gianfortes own son, who identifies as non-binary, asking his father to block the bill. His son went as far as calling the bill “immoral, unjust”, according to The New York Times.

Ultimately, despite all the resistance left-leaning parties attempted to put up, the House still managed to pass the bill protecting minors in the state of Montana, and Gianforte signed the bill into law on Friday.

MINNESOTA GOV. SIGNS CHILLING NEW LAW – COURTS NOW OVERRULE PARENTS ON ‘GENDER-AFFIRMING HEALTH CARE’ FOR CHILDREN

Gianforte has not appeared publicly since the passing of the bill, but his office’s spokeswoman, Kaitlin Price, did relay the following:

“He is committed to protecting Montana’s children from the invasive medical treatments that can permanently alter their healthy, developing bodies.”

Gianforte initially denied a version of the bill, returning it to the House with amendments, along with a letter stating that using the term gender-affirming care was misleading, going so far as to compare it to “Orwellian Newspeak.”

The passing of Senate Bill 99 follows other efforts by the legislature to reign in the LGBTQ agenda. One such bill that passed through the legislature makes it harder for public schools to punish students for misgendering their peers. Likewise, there are numerous other bills being pushed through the Montana House such as a bill that would define sex in purely binary terms and another effort that would ban students from changing their pronouns without their parent’s permission.

Overall, the passing of this bill was a major victory for Montana’s conservatives. Montanans can only hope in the comeing weeks that the legislature and Gov. Gianforte will be able to pass more laws protecting the state’s youth from the LGBTQ agenda. The youth are the future of the country and deserve all the protection the government can offer to let them live out their childhoods freely.