Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr and legislative researcher Erin Reed have emerged as a power couple spreading hope to fellow transgender people.

Rep. Zooey Zephyr, the transgender Montana lawmaker who was silenced after telling Republicans they would have blood on their hands for opposing gender-affirming health care for kids, cannot return to the statehouse House floor and participate in debate, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr is casting votes from a statehouse snack bar after asking a court to allow for her return to the House floor.

The banishment of transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr from Montana’s House floor has showcased the rising power of hard-line conservatives who are leveraging divisive social issues to gain political influence.

Access to gender-affirming care is taking center stage in state governments across the U.S., with some states passing restrictions and others protections.

The silencing of a transgender lawmaker in Montana marks the third time in five weeks that Republicans have attempted to compare disruptive but nonviolent protests at state capitols to insurrections.

Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr is starting legislative exile in Montana over a standoff that began when she told her colleagues they would have “blood” on their hands if they voted to support a ban on gender-affirming care.

Montana lawmaker Zooey Zephyr began her first day in legislative exile with renewed confidence that Republican lawmakers’ unprecedented vote to silence her has only amplified her message.

Pride flags are as common a sight in the college town of Missoula as the peaks of Montana’s Rattlesnake Mountains.

Montana Republican leaders will vote on censuring or expelling a transgender state lawmaker who has been silenced on the state House floor for comments against a bill to ban gender-affirming medical care for children.

Montana Republican leaders have voted to bar a transgender state lawmaker from the House floor in retaliation for rebuking colleagues – and then participating in protests – after they voted to ban gender-affirming care for children.

Republican legislative leaders in Montana persisted in forbidding Democratic transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr from participating in debate for a second week and her supporters brought the House session to a halt Monday — chanting “Let her speak!”.

The latest instance of one party deciding who can be heard during legislative debate has ended for now after a judge denied a transgender lawmaker's bid to return to the Montana House floor.