Native Americans in Montana Challenge New Gender Law

A new law in Montana that went into effect last month rigidly defines sex in ways that Indigenous Two-Spirit Native Americans say violate their religious and cultural rights. CNN breaks down how Senate Bill 458 affects that community, and how they’re pushing back against it. A little background: Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the bill in May, legally defining sex as either male or female based on an individual’s XX or XY chromosomes and reproductive organs, per the Montana Free Press. The ruling influences dozens of parts of state code, including driver’s licenses, demographic records, and anti-discrimination laws. The Missoulian Two-Spirit Society has now joined a lawsuit challenging the law.

“We don’t ascribe to just simply biologic definitions,” says David Herrera, co-founder and executive director of the group. “We acknowledge that there are different genders, and our cultures have always known that there are more than two genders.” The Missoulian explains that “Two-Spirit” is an umbrella term referring to Indigenous people who have both a masculine and a feminine spirit. Historically they were assigned spiritual roles in ceremonies and in healing practices, roles of great importance. Indigenous scholar Kalpana Jain writes in the Conversation that stories passed down by the Blackfeet “acknowledged and accepted individual gender expression and identity because it was granted by the divine. Personal gender identity was rarely questioned, because it was tantamount to questioning the divine.”

Herrera says Two-Spirit identities were seen as “an abomination” during colonization, and as tribes began assimilating, aggression toward LGBTQ people within Native communities grew. “We’ve already been traumatized through so many things that the government has done to us and so we just figured it’s time—we have to step up and reclaim what’s rightfully ours and not let the government take that away from us,” Steven Barrios, a co-founder of the Montana Two-Spirit Society, tells CNN. Per Montana Public Radio, plaintiffs in the case also include two intersex individuals, who say the new definition on the books fails to recognize their chromosomal differences, and a transgender Navy veteran. The state is expected to answer the lawsuit by mid-December. (Navajo Nation is grappling with gay marriage ban.)