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