After demonstrating on Monday in front of the statehouse in Montana, seven people were taken into custody by law enforcement. The state senator who voted against a proposal pushed by Republicans to restrict the medical treatments available to transgender youngsters was censured, which prompted the protest.
The ceremony took place in the chambers of the House of Representatives in Washington, District of Columbia.
After refusing to leave the gallery that overlooks the House floor, those arrested risk charges of criminal trespass, according to Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton, who talked to the local affiliate of NBC, KTVH-TV.
In response to Republican House Speaker Rep. Matt Regier’s refusal to offer Zephyr floor time prior to the vote on the measure, the activists in the crowd screamed, “Let her speak.” The statements made by Zephyr were left out of the discussion.
A transgender person named Zephyr testified against the law during the legislative session, which served as the spark that ignited the subsequent marches. She said that any member who votes in favor of the law should feel “ashamed” because, in the event that it is passed, they will have “blood on their hands.”
In reaction to the observations made by Zephyr, Regier voiced his concern that, if given another opportunity to speak, Zephyr might not behave in an appropriate manner. As the rules of the House state that the Speaker has the final say in all matters, including those of this nature, he made the decision not to recognize Zephyr while he was presiding over the House.
The disturbance took place in the course of a routine session of the House and lasted for almost a quarter of an hour. According to the news broadcast on the television channel, the police handcuffed a number of the demonstrators.
On Monday night, Regier and other members of the leadership of the House Republican Caucus published a statement in which they referred to the incident as a “riot by far-left agitators.”
