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The Montana House advanced the “Save Women’s Sports Act” out of committee 11-8 on a near party-line vote Jan. 21. Montana house bill 112 is nearly an exact copy of Idaho house bill 500, the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” passed into law last year but currently stalled on a temporary injunction issued in August ahead of a hearing in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The bills require transgender athletes to compete on teams which align with their sex at birth.
Montana’s bill has important omissions compared to Idaho’s, according to legislation sponsor, Montana Rep. John Fuller (R-Whitefish).
Montana Pushes Anti-Trans Bills, Sets Up Battle With Biden Admin
House committees have advanced bills that would limit trans kids participation in school sports and restrict their access to medical care. January 21 2021 5:21 PM EST
Updated January 22 2021 5:18 PM EST
Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte (above) has not said if he will sign the bills if they reach his desk, but he is known for hostility to trans people.
Montana legislators are considering two bills targeting transgender youth one that would restrict their participation in school sports and another that would prevent them from accessing gender-affirming care.
The Montana House Judiciary Committee Thursday voted 11-8 to advance the bill on athletics to the full House of Representatives. House Bill 112, titled the Save Women s Sports Act, would bar trans youth from competing on school sports teams that comport with their gender identity. The bill parrots an Idaho law that restricts options for trans student athletes.
As House Bill 112 moved through the Montana House Judiciary Committee on Thursday morning, the chorus of voices against the legislation grew louder.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and dozens of Montana civil rights groups have joined in opposition to HB 112 and House Bill 113, both of which are pieces of anti-trans legislation.
The Judiciary Committee will vote on HB 113 on Friday morning.
The HRC is the largest LGBTQ+ organization in the country. A Montana coalition against anti-transgender legislation, called the Free and Fair Coalition, is comprised of the Montana Human Rights Network, Montana Women Vote, ACLU of Montana, Empower Montana, Forward Montana, the Montana Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, the Montana Gender Alliance, the Montana Chapter of the National Social Workers Association, the Montana Racial Equity Project, the Indigenous Organizers Collective, Planned Parenthood of Montana, Pride Foundation, and Trans
Bill advances to limit trans youth health care in Montana
By IRIS SAMUELSJanuary 22, 2021 GMT
HELENA, Mont. (AP) The Montana House Judiciary Committee voted Friday to advance a bill that would ban gender-confirming health care for transgender minors.
Proponents of the bill say it would defend trans children from life-altering medical procedures they cannot fully consent to. Opponents say it would harm trans youth.
The bill passed mostly along party lines, with Republican Rep. Mallerie Stromswold, a recent high school graduate, joining all committee Democrats in opposing the measure.
The bill was voted up by the committee one day after they passed a measure that would prohibit transgender youth from participating in sports according to the gender with which they identify.
Transgender kids would be banned from playing on school sports teams for the gender with which they identify under a GOP-backed bill that advanced Thursday in Montana, one of more than a dozen states where lawmakers are proposing restrictions on athletics or gender-confirming health care for trans minors this year.