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On Thursday, Montana s Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte put his support behind a bill supporters say would protect religious freedom. Opponents say it would allow for discrimination of LGBTQ Montanans.
Shawn Reagor, an organizer with the Montana Human Rights Network, told lawmakers that he knows the consequences of discrimination: he was once fired from a job for being part of the LGBTQ community.
“I beg you not to let the religious freedom that we all hold dear to be twisted into a weapon to cause such harm, Reagor said.
Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras
Bill sponsor Sen. Carl Glimm, R-Kila, said the Religious Freedom Restoration Act aims to protect against discrimination of religious people by government entities by giving them their fair day in court. The Senate already endorsed Senate Bill 215 by a narrow two-vote margin.
Grand Marshal Steven-Bear Twoteeth at the 2019 Big Sky Pride parade in Helena, Montana. There were over 6,000 people at the parade the largest turnout in Big Sky Pride’s history. “My community has always had my back,” Twoteeth said.
Courtesy of Steven-Bear Twoteeth
Two years ago, on a January evening, Steven-Bear Twoteeth sat on the floor of a friend’s one-bedroom apartment in Helena, Montana’s state capital. Surrounded by fellow advocates, he prepared for the state’s upcoming legislative session. “We were like, ‘How do you pass a bill?’ Or, ‘What does HB” house bill “mean?’ ” he remembers. When he arrived at the Capitol, he testified before a committee, speaking on the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women while wondering how vulnerable and personal his words should be.
Sen. Bryce Bennett (pictured), who is gay, spoke against a religious refusals bill and legislation that would make it harder for trans Montanans to obtain an updated birth certificate.
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