Neo-Nazis can’t stop Pride in Montana: ‘Yes, we are under attack. But we will not be quiet’
Montana, the Big Sky state and an emblem of the vast American West, has historically been viewed as one of the most independent states in the country, with a history of ticket-splitting elections and a resistance to uniparty rule that has dominated neighbouring states.
But within the last few years, with a Republican supermajority controlling both the state House and Senate as well as the governor’s office, GOP officials have advanced a series of laws targeting abortion rights and trans people.
A 2021 measure blocked trans athletes from competing on teams consistent with their genders. A volley of bills in 2023 aimed at LGBT+ people and led to the Republican-led removal of the state’s only trans state lawmaker from the House chambers.
The 2023 legislative session was “the worst, most difficult session I think many of us have ever seen in Montana,” says Quinn Leighton with Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana.
“The tenor, rhetoric and vitriol within those committees was astounding,” with right-wing officials comparing trans people to pedophiles and groomers and satanism, Leighton tells The Independent. “So many bills and so much rhetoric about who can make what decisions about their bodies, largely going after trans people, any person who needs access to an abortion and any person who is transitioning and needs access to gender-affirming care.”
Centering the stories of the people who will be most affected by discriminatory legislation “felt like we were just talking to a wall most of the time,” Leighton says.
“It just really feels like we’re living in a state that doesn’t want us, is telling us we don’t belong, and we don’t matter,” Leighton says. “When our government or systems fail, what it really comes down to is community taking care of community.”