Testimony in Opposition to HB 121, Montana’s Proposed Transgender Bathroom Ban
Dear Members of the Montana House Standing Committee of the Judiciary,
My name is Ricci Joy Levy, and I am the President & CEO of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation, a national organization whose mission is to affirm sexual freedom as a fundamental human right. Woodhull protects and defends individuals’ rights across the United States to enjoy sexual dignity, privacy, and consensual sexual expression without societal or governmental interference, coercion or stigmatization. As a representative of Woodhull and in my capacity as an expert on the human right to sexual freedom, I am here today to express our strong opposition to Montana House Bill 121.
HB 121 is part of a campaign of hate against the LGBTQIA+ community, specifically its transgender and gender-expansive members. This bill, in its attempt to restrict members of Montana’s transgender community from accessing “restrooms, changing rooms, and sleeping quarters,” furthers a cruel trend of bathroom bans across the country. Woodhull has opposed such bathroom bans since politicians in state legislatures and at the federal level began utilizing them nearly a decade ago to target and discriminate against LGBTQIA+ individuals legislatively.
Supporters of such legislation argue these bans are about public safety, including the sponsors of HB 121. In reality, these bathroom bans impede public safety. Restricting access to public bathrooms harms the health and rights of transgender individuals, including children. In lawsuits opposing such bans, they have been shown to infringe on transgender individual’s right to health by causing urinary tract infections and other medical issues, with these health issues increasing for transgender children as young as 6 years old. These bans have also increased incidents of harassment against trans and cisgender individuals, demonstrating how HB 121 would pose risks to all Montanans.
With the introduction of HB 121 and the hearing today, Montana’s legislature has the disturbing distinction of being the first state to hold a hearing on an anti-trans bill this year. Yet this hateful distinction is not representative of your constituents, who have proven to be more open-minded than many members of the legislature. In 2022, Montanans made history by electing your colleagues and fellow members of this Judiciary Committee, Representative Zooey Zephyr, the first openly transgender woman in the Montana legislature, and Representative SJ Howell, the first openly non-binary House Member. I, and Woodhull, implore you to demonstrate your respect, as lawmakers, for the rights and dignity of your colleagues and constituents by opposing HB 121.
Sincerely,
Ricci Joy Levy
President & CEO
Woodhull Freedom Foundation
An Update on HB121:
On January 10, 2025, Montana’s legislature held a hearing on HB121 which restricts Montana’s transgender community from accessing “restrooms, changing rooms, and sleeping quarters.” In doing so, Montana’s legislature realized the disturbing distinction of becoming the first state to hold a hearing on an anti-trans bill this year. Woodhull has strongly opposed HB121 by submitting and giving oral testimony expressing why the legislation violates transgender people’s human rights, including their right to health.
Despite significant opposition to HB121, including from operators of domestic violence shelters, members of the Montana Gender Alliance, and local government representatives from cities and counties throughout the state, on January 16 the Montana State House passed the bill 58 to 41. On February 11, the Montana State Senate followed the House’s lead and passed the bill 32 to 18. Upon signing by Governor Greg Gianforte on March 27, 2025, HB121 immediately came into effect. Woodhull remains steadfast in our opposition to this anti-trans legislation which furthers a cruel trend of bathroom bans across the country.
Introduced: 01/06/2025
Hearing 1: 01/10/2025
Hearing 2: 01/30/2025
Passed by House: 01/16/2025; Yea 58, Nay 41, Absent 1
Passed by Senate: 02/11/2025; Yea 32, Nay 18, Absent 0
Transmitted to Governor: 03/18/2025
Signed by Governor Greg Gianforte and immediately came into effect: 3/27/2025
Update: 4/2/2025
Good news! On Wednesday April 2, 2025 Judge Shane A. Vannatta put a temporary block on HB121. Montana’s Governor Greg Gianforte signed the anti-trans bathroom ban on March 27, 2025 at which point it came into effect. Five plaintiffs immediately sued the state to halt it, arguing that the Act “violates their rights under the Montana Constitution, including the rights to equal protection, privacy, to pursue life’s basic necessities, and due process.”
In his ruling, Judge Vannatta stated that, “Decisions about how to express a person’s gender identity are personal and private, as is information about a person’s transgender or intersex status, anatomy, genetics, and medical history.” He went on to assert that, “The Act fails strict scrutiny because it is motivated by animus and supported by no evidence that its restrictions advance its purported purpose to protect women’s safety and privacy.”
Woodhull welcomes this ruling and supports the legal challenge against this cruel Act which violates trans and non-binary Monatanan’s constitutional and human rights. We will continue to monitor the temporary block which will remain in effect until an April 21 hearing to determine if it will be continued as the lawsuit proceeds.
Update: 4/22/2025
More good news! On April 21, 2025 Judge Vannatta extended the temporary restraining order on Montana’s anti-trans bathroom ban, House Bill 121. This means that the bathroom ban will remain blocked from coming into effect while the court hears arguments in the case challenging the constitutionality of HB 121. The ACLU of Montana is representing the plaintiffs in the case in which they are arguing that the bill discriminates against transgender people.
As stated by the ACLU of Montana Deputy Director Alex Rate, “The law is intended to marginalize transgender and intersex Montanans, barring them from using public facilities that they’ve been using without incident for decades. As a result of the law, two of our clients who are transgender and intersex Montanans will be immediately harmed. And so that’s why we had to file an emergency lawsuit to prevent it from going into effect.”