Montana

Zooey Zephyr’s Defense of Trans Lives in a Deep-Red State

Published

2 years ago

October 2, 2024

Early last year, on a slushy predawn morning, I drove to the Montana state capitol building, in Helena, to see the legislature in action. The body is made up of a hundred and fifty “citizen legislators” who meet for no more than ninety days every other year, a schedule designed to accommodate their other, full-time jobs. The session has been described to me as a gathering of friends—there are only a million or so people in the state—or at least it felt that way, for a time. What I witnessed on the floor of the House of Representatives, against the literal backdrop of an enormous settlers-meet-Indians mural, was considerably more tense.

I had come to report on battles over L.G.B.T.Q.-oriented books in a local library system—a small front in the culture wars spreading across the state and the country. Montana’s bicameral Republican super-majority was pushing bills that criminalized the distribution of “obscene materials” by public-school employees, prohibited drag shows in public libraries and schools, and exempted public-school students from having to call classmates by their preferred names or pronouns. Another bill sought to bar medical providers from treating trans minors with hormones or gender-affirming surgeries, which some Republicans referred to as “amputation.” “I wouldn’t call that health care,” the House speaker, Matt Regier, whose sister and father were also members of the legislature, told me in an interview at the time. At the start of the session, the Republican governor, Greg Gianforte, had preëmptively requested 2.6 million dollars to cover the expected cost of defending the state against lawsuits by civil-liberties groups.

The day I visited, legislators were debating the names-and-pronouns bill. Zooey Zephyr, a Democrat and a trans woman representing Missoula, and one of two trans or nonbinary members of the House, called it “inherently discriminatory” and tantamount to bullying. In the following weeks, she continued to speak during floor debate, rising from her seat, No. 31, with increasing fervor. When, in April, the legislature took up Senate Bill 99, the one concerning medical care for trans minors, Zephyr said to its proponents, “If you vote yes on this bill, and yes on these amendments, I hope the next time there’s an invocation, when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands.” She quickly became a national symbol of L.G.B.T.Q. resistance.

Regier responded by refusing to give her the floor unless she apologized. Protesters showed up a few days later to yell “Let her speak”; seven were arrested. House members then voted to bar Zephyr from the chamber for the remainder of the legislative session. As the New Yorker contributor Abe Streep wrote, it was “the latest in a string of incidents involving Republican-controlled legislatures muzzling elected Democratic colleagues. In Tennessee, legislators expelled Black representatives speaking about gun control; in Nebraska, a Democrat who testified against a bill similar to S.B. 99, and who has a transgender child, was investigated for having a conflict of interest.”

Zephyr’s journey through the final weeks of the 2023 legislative session is the subject of “Seat 31: Zooey Zephyr,” a short documentary by Kimberly Reed, herself a trans woman from Montana. I first encountered Reed through her feature-length film “Dark Money” (released after a book of the same title by my colleague Jane Mayer), which examines the impact of the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. F.E.C. on campaign finance, journalism, and public accountability in Montana. More recently, Reed directed an episode of the miniseries “Equal” (now on Max) that’s in part about the trans Montanan Jack Starr, who, between the nineteen-twenties and forties, was repeatedly arrested for dressing as a dapper frontiersman. In Zephyr, Reed identified a similarly courageous figure. “It was clear Montana was turning redder, Trumpier, scarier,” Reed told me. “The political backslapping, the ‘aw, shucks,’ still-have-drinks-at-the-end-of-the-day thing was really eroding.”

As a matter of politics, “Seat 31” tells a gloomy tale: S.B. 99 gets passed, and Zephyr is forced to finish out the session from a bench next to the tiny statehouse snack bar. Yet Reed’s character study manages to show Zephyr’s sense of humor—and faith in the eventual triumph of Montanans’ live-and-let-live attitude. When Zephyr is relegated to the bench, she jokes, “Finally, transparency in government! Open doors!” When the session concludes, she clears out the seat she was barred from and chats cordially with a few fellow-legislators. A sweet, personal moment arrives soon afterward, when Zephyr and her long-distance girlfriend, the trans journalist Erin Reed, take the stage at Missoula’s Queer Prom.

Zephyr is running for reëlection this fall, as is the Democrat SJ Howell, who represents a neighboring district in Missoula and identifies as trans and nonbinary. The two are minorities within a super-minority—but they’ll likely be back at the statehouse in 2025. ♦

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Related Topics:Featured l.g.b.t.q. rights Montana State Legislatures

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Montana

Montana Lottery Powerball, Lotto America results for May 13, 2026

Published

8 hours ago

May 14, 2026

Press Room

The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at May 13, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from May 13 drawing

22-31-52-56-67, Powerball: 15, Power Play: 2

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lotto America numbers from May 13 drawing

17-18-28-37-42, Star Ball: 04, ASB: 02

Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from May 13 drawing

02-06-10-16, Bonus: 16

Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from May 13 drawing

08-13-39-63-66, Powerball: 02

Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Montana Cash numbers from May 13 drawing

02-04-13-17-32

Check Montana Cash payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from May 13 drawing

21-24-29-42-49, Bonus: 01

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.

Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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Montana

Public Meeting at Hub on Smith Concerning Montana Water Call Prompting Priority Administration in Tongue Basin

Published

20 hours ago

May 13, 2026

Press Room

Public Meeting at Hub on Smith Concerning Montana Water Call Prompting Priority Administration in Tongue Basin

Wyoming State Engineer Brandon Gebhart announced that on May 5, 2026, the State of Montana placed a call under Article V(A) of the Yellowstone River Compact to fill Tongue River Reservoir in Montana. As a result, priority administration is in effect on post-1950 water rights in Wyoming that divert water from the Tongue River and its tributaries and are not excluded from the compact.

A public meeting will be held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Monday, May 18, in the dining room of The Hub on Smith. Attendees are asked to enter on the north side of the building.

The Tongue River Basin has been experiencing drought conditions over the past year with historically low winter snowpack and streamflow conditions. According to the release, those conditions led to Montana’s interstate call and prompted the administration of the Tongue River Basin in Wyoming.

The priority administration will affect post-1950 water rights within the Tongue River Basin, including reservoir storage, stream diversions and groundwater withdrawals, all of which affect river flows. Post-1950 water rights will be regulated off or prevented from turning on. Wyoming hydrographer-commissioners will continue to administer reservoir storage and post-1950 diversions throughout the spring and work with affected water users until the administration is lifted.

As provided in the compact, domestic uses less than one-half acre in area and livestock uses, including stock reservoirs less than 20 acre-feet in capacity, are excluded from this administration. The release noted these excluded rights could be subject to future regulation to satisfy priority calls by senior Wyoming water rights.

Beginning May 5, 2026, Wyoming hydrographer-commissioners have worked to record the current storage levels of reservoirs with post-1950 water rights. Going forward, those reservoirs can continue to accrue storage so long as post-1950 storage gained after the interstate call on May 5 remains in storage until either the water is released to satisfy the Montana call or Montana lifts the call because Tongue River Reservoir will fill.

Reservoirs with unfulfilled pre-1950 water rights can continue to store water and that storage will not be subject to release to satisfy Montana’s call. However, that storage and other direct flow rights could be subject to regulation to satisfy priority calls by senior Wyoming water rights.

The priority administration will be carried out pursuant to state law by hydrographer-commissioners assigned to various portions of the Tongue River Basin, working under the direction of Division II Superintendent David Schroeder.

The Wyoming State Engineer’s Office can be contacted at:

Jack Morey, deputy state engineer, 307-777-5032, jack.morey2@wyo.gov

David Schroeder, Division II superintendent, 307-674-7012, d.schroeder@wyo.gov

Jeff Cowley, interstate streams administrator, 307-777-1942, jeff.cowley@wyo.gov

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Montana

Montana Lottery Mega Millions, Big Sky Bonus results for May 12, 2026

Published

1 day ago

May 13, 2026

Press Room

The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at May 12, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Mega Millions numbers from May 12 drawing

17-32-35-40-47, Mega Ball: 17

Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from May 12 drawing

04-12-17-24, Bonus: 11

Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from May 12 drawing

19-21-35-38-53, Bonus: 01

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.

Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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