by Michael J. Marino
Protesters rallied in front of the Yellowstone County Courthouse in downtown Billings March 31, to voice both their support of personal, transgender rights and their opposition to SB 99 — a bill which recently made its way through the Montana Legislature to ban gender-affirming care for minors. (Michael Marino photo)
Protesters gathered Friday, March 31 in downtown Billings to voice their opposition of SB 99, a bill which prohibits gender-affirming medical care for minors in Montana and threatens doctors with a penalty if they go against the bill’s provisions. SB 99 passed the state Senate by a vote of 32-17 on March 29, and is now pending the Governor’s signature or veto.
In total, around 100 people came together on the lawn of the Yellowstone County Courthouse with signs like “Together We Rise” and “Bans Off Our Bodies.” One protester’s sign read, “Even if you hate us, we still love you. Love wins.”
Bailey Desper, a human rights advocate, organized Friday’s protest and said it was held “in tandem with other protests across the United States.” She said the goal was “to be out here, and be loud for Trans Day of Visibility.”
Desper said her reaction to the approval of SB 99 was one of disappointment. “It made me feel like the American Dream is really just a sales pitch… and I’m tired of being that product,” she said. One of Desper’s goals is “to see equality be the law of the land at some point in my lifetime.”
Local resident Shannon Dyer said she was attending to support her grandson, Lily, who was born female but came to his family about three years ago and expressed that he felt he was actually male. Dyer said, “So we just really tried to help support him in his growth… getting him to counseling, getting him to whoever he needed support-wise.”
“My generation learned through Matthew Shephard,” said Dyer, “to not treat people horribly just [because] you don’t understand them.” (Matthew Shephard was a gay student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, tortured, and left to die near Laramie on the night of October 6, 1998.)
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