2 days Ago By SEAN BATURA Belgrade News
All legislators representing Belgrade were unanimous in their support for a bill that prohibits state and local government entities from penalizing people who decline to use names, pronouns, and titles in certain ways. The bill, HB 400, was signed into law by Gov. Greg Gianforte on May 1.
Effective that day, students at non-charter public schools, public charter schools, and public institutions of higher education may not face disciplinary actions for declining to identify someone's pronouns or for declining to address a person by using a name other than the person's legal name or a derivative of the person's legal name. The bill adds that students can’t be penalized for declining to use a pronoun or a title “that is inconsistent with a person's sex.” The new law also protects, in the same way, employees of government entities.
Such entities include the state of Montana, counties, municipalities, boards, institutions, commissions, departments, special districts, and to subdivisions of any of these entities. The new law also prohibits, in the aforementioned manner, the state from penalizing people under contract with government entities. The law also protects "persons" — not just students and employees/contractors — from government entities that might want to impose the aforementioned name/pronoun/title requirements.
Under the new law, government entities "may not penalize or take an adverse action against a person" who 1) declines to identify another person's pronouns 2) declines to address another person by using a name other than the other person's legal name or a derivative of the other person's legal name, or 3) declines to use a pronoun or a title that is inconsistent with the other person's sex. Caleb Hinkle (R-HD 68), Jedediah Hinkle (R-HD 67), and Jane Gillette (R-HD 77) were among the 56 representatives – all Republicans – who helped pass the bill in the House. They represent areas in or around Belgrade.
House members voting in the minority included 41 Democrats and one Republican. The Republican was Rep. Melissa Nikolakakos (R-HD 20), who represents a portion of Great Falls.
Rep. Brian Close (D-HD 65) and Rep. Eric Matthews (D-HD 66) also voted in the minority.
Close represents an area south and east of Belgrade and parts of Bozeman. Matthews represents an area north of Belgrade. Sen.
Shelley Vance (SD 34), who represents Belgrade, was among the 28 senators who voted for HB 400. Sen. John Esp (R-SD 29), who represents Park County, voted against the bill.
Two other senators who ran as Republicans voted against the bill: Sen. Wendy McKamey (SD 12) and Sen. Russ Tempel (SD-14).
However, Vance, McKamey, and Tempel are among nine senators who are no longer considered Republicans by the state party, per a resolution passed in early April by the MTGOP Executive Committee. The resolution explaining the party’s decision can be found at https://tinyurl.com/y2xpj5xw .
Gillespie represents part of the counties of Toole, Pondera, Teton, and Lewis and Clark; McKamey represents part of Great Falls; and Tempel represents a sliver of territory on the northern U.S. border encompassing portions of the counties of Liberty, Hill, Blaine, Phillips, and Valley.
No Democrats voted against the bill in the House or the Senate. Various Democratic legislators who debated the matter on the House and Senate floors said the bill would encourage bullying in schools, make it more difficult for schools to educate students, and harm people who identify as transgender. Under the new law, anyone may sue a government entity, including a school, for harm caused by the imposition of the aforementioned speech requirements.
Such plaintiffs could seek injunctive relief, monetary damages, reasonable attorney fees and costs, and any other appropriate relief as long as they sue within two years after being penalized/harmed. Lawmakers who rose to oppose the bill in the last legislative debate on the issue included Sen. Andrea Olsen (D-SD 48), who represents part of Missoula and unincorporated Missoula County.
“This bill actually does prohibit teachers from managing their classrooms, it prohibits them from disciplining a student who is bullying another student or disrupting the classroom situation,” Olsen said April 10 on the Senate floor. “We had very compelling testimony from teachers stating that their only goal being in the classroom is to be able to teach our children to give them the best education possible so they can reach their potential as is actually required under the Constitution. We also had all of the people involved in the education system telling us that this is going to be very difficult, if not impossible for them to meet the requirements of safety and classroom decorum if this bill is passed.
” Sen. Jeremy Trebas (SD 10), who represents a portion of Great Falls, rose to defend the bill. He said the bill wouldn’t “cause the schools to be less effective than they already are.
” “Reading in 2023 and 2024 proficiency rates for grades three through eighth [was at] 44.2% proficiency,” Trebas said. “That's minimum proficiency.
Math in year 2023 through year 2024, 38.7% [proficiency] in grades three through eight. They're already failing, they're already abysmal.
That's OPI data. For grade 11, English Language Arts, ELA, proficiency is about half, 52.5%, and math is 30.
7%. This isn't going to be the bill that sinks the ship, guys. The ship is sinking.
” Sen. Windy Boy (D-SD 16) said the bill is unnecessary because the Constitution already protects freedom of speech. He represents areas of the Indian reservations of Rocky Boy, Fort Belknap and Fort Peck, and portions of the counties of Valley, Blaine, and Phillips.
Sen. Cora Neumann (D-SD 30) also rose to oppose the bill on April 10. "This is an anti-trans bill, and I can't believe that I had to wake up again this morning and come in here to discuss a bill that does nothing to protect Montanans, does nothing to provide property tax relief, does nothing to actually solve the problems that Montanans are facing,” Neumann said.
“This is a mean, cruel bill.” Neumann, who represents part of Gallatin County, said every bill draft costs the state $3,000 and every day of the legislative session costs $40,000. “We have heard 25 anti-trans, anti-LGBTQ bills,” Neumann said.
“What are we doing here? This is not our job. This is not what the people of Montana asked for. This is horrible.
” The bill protects teachers and students from being bullied for refusing to say things they don’t believe to be true, according to Sen. Barry Usher (R-SD 19). “I think the schools are bullying if they're forcing someone to do something that's against their core values and beliefs,” said Usher, who represents portions of the counties of Fergus, Golden Valley, Petroleum, Mussleshell, and Yellowstone.
Rep. Ed. Stafman (D-HD 59), who represents part of Gallatin County, rose to oppose the bill during the House floor debate on Feb.
20. He said there are situations where people can be expected to use language that contradicts their deeply held beliefs, such as in the case of honorifics. “For example, I refer to a judge as ‘Your Honor,’ which shows respect even if I deeply believe in my heart that that judge should not be a judge,” Stafman said.
“Judicial rules requiring me to use this pronoun are not compelled speech, as this bill would label it.” Stafman said people in the school setting can avoid using pronouns with which they disagree. “One always has the option of using the person's name instead or avoiding using a pronoun altogether — including a gendered pronoun,” Stafman said.
Under some circumstances, a person's legal name might be distressing to hear, according to Stafman. “Say it's my father's name and my father abused me, and I let everybody know that I've always been called, ever since birth, Bubba,” Stafman said. “But under this bill, the student has the right to deliberately call me by the name he knows to be hurtful — a form of bullying.
Of course, under this bill, I can go to court and legally change my name to Bubba and avoid that result altogether. But if my legal name is Will and I want to be known as Willow, I shouldn't have to go to court for a name change to be called Willow.” Stafman said people also can choose not to refer to someone at all.
“If using my chosen name makes you uncomfortable, nobody is forcing you to refer to me at all,” Stafman said. Stafman, a rabbi, said that Judeo-Christian tradition holds that every human is made in the image of God, “so knowingly insulting the dignity of another insults the dignity of God.” "One can always find a way to refer to somebody [in a way] that doesn't offend their dignity, or not to refer to another at all,” Stafman said.
“We shouldn't remove from schools the ability to teach kids through example that human dignity is inviolable or that bullying is wrong.” Sen. Theresa Manzella (R-SD 44), who introduced the bill on the Senate floor April 10, said the legislation was intended to protect freedom of speech and freedom of conscience for people who don’t want to be compelled to say things that violate their sincerely held beliefs.
“Words and language carry meaning when used properly, they tell the truth about reality, about feelings and beliefs,” Manzella said during the debate. “That's why this bill isn't just about a pronoun. It's about what the forced use of pronouns means for our rights.
” Manzella said people should be allowed to “speak truth in love to someone.” “That is my sincerely God-given directive,” Manzella said. “He made us.
He knew us before we were in the womb. We are..
.wonderfully made. We should be encouraging our students to celebrate who they were born to be.
Our duty as lawmakers is to provide protections [to prevent] infringement and overreach that violates our constitutional and God-given rights, including our right to free speech. This is a civil rights issue, and it should be protected.”.
