A photo of women snickering at trans lawmaker Zooey Zephyr in Montana looks a lot like the photos of white people snickering at Black people in the 1950s

Tue, 05/02/2023 - 17:05

A group of women watch Rep. Zooey Zephyr while occupying the public bench she worked from after being censured. — A group of women watch Rep. Zooey Zephyr while occupying a public bench. Zephyr had been working from the bench since being censured in a House vote.
Thom Bridge/Helena Independent Record

The Montana legislature last week voted to censure Rep. Zooey Zephyr, the state's first openly transgender lawmaker.
The vote meant Zephyr could no longer enter the House chamber, so she worked from a public bench in the hallway outside.
A photo shows a group of women occupying the bench on Monday, glaring at Zephyr, in an image reminiscent of the civil rights movement.

It wasn't enough for Montana's Republican-led state legislature to take away Democratic Rep. Zooey Zephyr's seat in the legislature. Now people are taking her seat outside of the House chamber too.