by Jasmine Taylor | Feb 13, 2023 | Abortions Rights
The world is full of good and brave people. If we’re lucky, we get to call these people friends. So I was delighted to see my friend and former Great Falls resident, Laura Wight, featured in The Washington Post this week.
Wight and her family lived in Great Falls for 11 years. In her time here, Laura was a steadfast figure in the volunteer world. She served as Vice President of the Great Falls LGBTQ+ Center, was an avid supporter of Planned Parenthood, and worked as the head librarian at Great Falls College MSU. Then life happened, as it is always wont to do, and a new career opportunity brought the Wights to New Mexico. But moving to a Blue state was not the end of Laura’s activism work. Rather, the undoing of Roe and an ultra conservative city commission has Wight treading that well-known protest line, this time in a much warmer clime.
Despite abortion being legal in New Mexico, the city of Clovis has been besieged by extremist right-wing pastors who have pushed an illegal abortion ban. One such extremist, Mark Lee Dickson has been making the rounds in Montana as well. Dickson (emphasis on DICK) has popped up in rural Montana towns, including Manhattan, Sheridan, and Whitehall , attempting to create “sanctuary cities for the unborn.” It’s not lost on us that these same idealogues are adamantly opposed to providing sanctuary for the already born.
When Hurricane Dickson arrived in Clovis, Laura Wight was ready. Calling on her decades of organizing experience, Wight responded quickly, creating Eastern New Mexico Rising. Now Wight is leading legal efforts to sue the city, and gathering signatures to bring the issue to the voters. Laura’s story highlights what organizers know all too well- The fight is not just here in Montana. The fight is everywhere. Lucky for New Mexico, they’ve gained one hell of a fighter.
You can read about Wight’s continued work here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/02/06/new-mexico-abortion-fight/
Learn about Dicksons’ trip to Manhattan here:
https://news.yahoo.com/manhattan-council-member-wants-town-004054723.html
by Jasmine Taylor | Feb 4, 2023 | Elections, Housing, LGBTQ+ Issues
Some days it feels like we’re running a satire site here. I sit down to re-cap the Worst of the Worst and don’t know if I should start with the craziest (Lola Sheldon Galloway) or the stupidest (Daniel Emrich). So instead I’ll start with the most self-serving.
MOST SELF-SERVING
Lola and Steven Galloway are millionaire landlords, and they’re shaping new laws to make themselves even richer. This week, Steven introduced legislation (HB 439) that would make it easier for landlords to evict tenants, and invade their privacy. Read about Steven’s obliquely self-serving bill here: https://wtf406.com/2023/01/galloway-attacks-renters-rights/
Now Steven’s receiving help from his friend to further diminish renter’s rights. Senator Steve Fitzpatrick introduced SB 105, a bill that would “prohibit rent control on private properties.” That means landlords like the Galloways can charge insanely high rental prices. Without rent control Montana’s housing crisis will worsen. Folks will either become unhoused, or they’ll be forced to move out of state. We’re already seeing a huge increase of families living in RVs on the side of the road in Bozeman. Bills like these will worsen the housing crisis. Fitzpatrick’s bill benefits the wealthy (ie all the elected Reps in Great Falls) at the expense of the rest of us.
MOST HEARTLESS
Most Heartless is actually a tie this week.
The “Pro-Life” Party was hard at work killing kids again. Steve Gist, Scott Kerns, Steven Galloway, and Lola Galloway all voted against funding for youth suicide prevention. Montana continually leads the nation in suicides. Youth are particularly at risk, and other bills being heard will likely increase the number of suicide attempts by kids in our state. Denying funding for suicide prevention efforts while simultaneously passing bills that will increase youth suidice? That’s some villain shit right there.
Read about why SB99 is going to kill kids here: https://wtf406.com/2023/01/sb-99-likely-to-increase-youth-suicide/
Senator Daniel Emrich managed to be disgusting on another end of the spectrum. Montana is a Right to Die state, meaning Montana’s can choose to die with dignity assisted by compassionate medical care. Emrich just can’t pass up an opportunity to impose his will on our private medical decisions. The GOP is trying to take away our right to die and criminalize doctors who provide this care. Despite his embarrassing lack of scientific understanding (more to come on this) Emrich decided he knows better than the Montana Hospital Association, doctors, patients, and their families. Emrich’s unkind and uninformed comments are featured in this article:
https://dailymontanan.com/2023/02/01/bill-would-outlaw-physician-assisted-death-reversing-montanas-current-practice/?fbclid=IwAR3n5NCzUtcONW2Rv_HvqxSmS0POW-CoKWHY8XaDwKlzMA46gs2-3lQRe44
MOST UNEDUCATED
Which brings us to why Senator Emrich should probably sit down when anything even science-adjacent is discussed. Emrich is trying to ban the teaching of “scientific theory.” No, seriously. The theory of gravity must have hit this breadstick in the head because he clearly lacks even a third-grade level of scientific understanding. Read this somehow-not-a-joke bill here: https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2023/billpdf/LC2215.pdf
MOST ORWELLIAN
Lola Galloway is all over the list this week! Galloway has introduced a bill that would require ALL cell phones in Montana be installed with an ”obscenity” filter. Notably, she provides no definition for “obscenity.” Make no mistake, this is a government surveillance bill. Lola employs a familiar GOP tactic here and is trying to disguise her censorship attempts as an effort to protect children. Her bill asserts that the filter is necessary so kids can’t access obscene materials. Protecting kids from the dark corners of the internet would indeed be a worthy cause- but installing surveillance software on every phone in the state is an insane way to go about it. Further, it’s the responsibility of PARENTS to monitor their child’s internet usage. It sure as hell shouldn’t come in the form of an opt-out piece of government surveillance on every cell phone in the state. Much like the other bullshit “obscenity” legislation we’ve seen this session, the real goal is BIG GOVERNMENT eyes on us and attempts to limit access to material far-right nationalist Christians don’t like. That’s going to be anything LGBTQ+ and anything non-theistic. If Lola actually gave a fuck about kids, she probably would have voted for the suicide-prevention funding mentioned above. Read the bill here: https://legiscan.com/MT/text/HB349/id/2668315
GET INVOLVED
The GOP is taking huge steps to invade our private lives, take away our homes, and make themselves rich all at once. Great Falls, this is getting embarrassing. If you disagree with the dystopian future our Great Falls Reps are trying to write into law, then tell them! Find session information, look up bills, and contact your representatives here: https://leg.mt.gov/session/
by Jasmine Taylor | Jan 25, 2023 | Elections, LGBTQ+ Issues
Montana’s suicide crisis continues to make national news. Easy access to firearms and a paucity of rural healthcare availability no doubt contribute to Montana consistently landing among the top states for suicides per capita. Now, Montana Republicans are targeting our most vulnerable- Queer kids.
Suicide is already the second leading cause of death for kids in the United States, and LGBTQ+ kids are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers.
Interestingly, Montana’s own DPPHS report addresses the increased risk of suicide among LGBTQ+ kids. The report also notes, “Each episode of LGBTQ victimization, such as physical or verbal harassment or abuse, increases the likelihood of self-harming behavior by 2.5 times on average.” Read the DPPHS report here: https://dphhs.mt.gov/assets/suicideprevention/SuicideinMontana.pdf
Preventing youth suicide would seem like a given. But let’s not pretend the MT GOP supermajority has any shred of decency. Rather than provide resources and funding to bring these tragic numbers down, Republicans instead are attempting to withhold healthcare for Queer Montanans. (Yes, we believe even those Montanans under 18 still count as whole, self-determining humans worthy of representation in our government.)
Enter the “Slate of Hate” as it has been branded by multiple non-profit agencies and human rights activists. The Montana Human Rights Network has identified a whopping 54 bills in the 2023 session with clear anti-lgbtq goals. Unsurprisingly, a number of those bills are sponsored by Great Falls’ own embarrassments, including “I Don’t Have to Pay Fair Property Taxes’ Jeremy Trebas and the world’s worst landlord, Lola Sheldon Galloway. More about these bills will be shared below.
Most urgent is SB 99, proposed by another Flathead-area bigot, Senator John Fuller. Fuller’s bill seeks to deny gender affirming care to minors. SB 99 would totally eliminate the rights of children and their parents to make appropriate medical decisions in consultation with qualified medical professionals. If this bullshit bill sounds familiar, it’s because we’ve literally heard it all before. Fuller introduced an incredibly similar bill during the 2021 session, which ultimately died on the Senate floor. But its a new session, and Senator Fuller still has a burning desire to watch Queer kids die. Denying them healthcare is one of the best ways to do that.
Montana’s own Health and Human Services agency recognizes the acute risk of being an lgbtq+ teen. Further, data also shows that gender affirming care SAVES lives. Yes, the very care Fuller wants to eliminate is what helps many kids survive into adulthood. Here’s a quick recap of a study showing the importance of gender-affirming care: https://www.columbiapsychiatry.org/news/gender-affirming-care-saves-lives
Perhaps Fuller and his ilk aren’t aware of this data. More likely, they hate Queer people enough that they would simply prefer us dead. If verbal harassment doubles the rate of lgbtq+ youth self-harm, what effect are these GOP bills having on our kids? If this bill passes, our answer will be found in the local Obituaries.
Take Action To Stop SB 99
The good news is that the 2023 session has shown us the power of pushing back. We saw Keith Reiger immediately walk back his attempt to dismantle reservations after the idea was met with tremendous national backlash. Like most bullies, Republicans back down quickly when someone stands up and says “No more.”
Enter you, dear reader. You have an opportunity to stop Fuller’s bill, and the entire Slate of Hate, all from the comfort of your home. The bill is being heard this Friday, January 27, 2023. Follow this link to submit written testimony to OPPOSE SB 99 in the SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE. https://leg.mt.gov/public-testimony/
Read more about the Slate of Hate and which Great Falls Reps are pushing an anti-lgbtq agenda here:
https://dailymontanan.com/2023/01/24/legislators-trans-montanans-speak-out-against-slate-of-hate-bills/#:~:text=Rep.%20Zooey%20Zephyr%2C%20D-Missoula%2C%20speaks%20at%20a%20press,of%20Hate%E2%80%9D%20during%20a%20press%20conference%20on%20Tuesday.
by Jasmine Taylor | Jan 16, 2023 | Uncategorized
We’ve just entered Week 3 of the 2023 Legislative Session, and boy has it been eventful. Republicans have floated a number of bad bills, many of which have already been abandoned due to public backlash. Although attacks on Indigenous sovereignty and medical privacy have grabbed headlines, there are GOOD things happening too.
Let’s take a look at a few bills that will help Montanans.
Senator MaryAnn Dunwell (D- SD42) and Jonathan Karfen (D-HD96) have drafted HB 252 which seeks to increase access to mental health services for Montana youth. Increasing mental health access is literally a matter of life or death. Montana has the 3rd highest suicide rate in the nation. Bills like this one can help protect our kids and keep them alive.
Dunwell has been busy and is already facing significant pushback from shady Republicans.Republicans killed her floor amendment to increase legislative transparency.The proposed amendment would have required legal review notes be attached to each bill. These notes are important because when the Leg passes laws that are unconstitutional or otherwise illegal, Montana taxpayers foot the bill. Last session Rs passed several laws that they knew wouldn’t hold up to judicial scrutiny and ultimately lost in court. Preventing access to these legal notes is an indication that they plan to waste our time and money this time around too.
Kelly Kortum (D- HD65) introduced HB201 to raise the minimum wage, combatting the inflation that has brought many Montanans closer to poverty. Kortum also introduced a bill draft that would protect renters. The bill would require rental application fees be refunded for applicants who aren’t selected for the rental unit. In another shady Republican move, this bill has been sent to the wrong committee- the Judiciary committee- where it is clear that Rs intend to kill it.
Representative S.J. Howell (D-HD95) introduced their bill to increase access to childcare. HD 238 supports the Best Beginnings program, a vital resource for working families in need of daycare.
So let’s round that up. We’ve got Democrats fighting for working Montanans who deserve a living wage, protecting kids through access to mental health services, helping parents access childcare, and assuring our government is following the law.
Now let’s contrast for a moment, shall we?
So far Montana Republicans have:
Gained national attention for their incredibly racist plan to destroy Indigenous Sovereignty. Read more here: https://wtf406.com/2023/01/republicans-attack-indigenous-rights/
And here: https://www.newsweek.com/montana-republican-state-lawmaker-keith-regier-indian-reservation-system-1771708
Branched off in what can best be described as a schism between the regular terrible Republicans and the especially awful extremists.
Read more here: https://wtf406.com/2023/01/breaking-news-great-falls-representative-steven-galloway-joins-the-circus/
Attempted to violate our right to medical privacy and attempted to kill poor women.
Read more here: https://wtf406.com/2023/01/republicans-push-for-extreme-privacy-violations/
And here: https://wtf406.com/2022/12/republicans-attack-abortion-rights-for-poorest-montanans/
Much like with Kortum’s bill, they’ve intentionally sent bills they don’t like to the wrong committees. Ethics, who needs em, right?
Read more here: https://wtf406.com/2023/01/in-my-opinion-republicans-skirt-rules-in-attack-on-unions/
This is only a small slice of the action so far. What is abundantly clear is that Democrats are pursuing issues important to Montanans. Republicans are pursuing an extremist agenda that diminishes our freedoms and wastes our tax dollars. You get what you vote for.
by Jasmine Taylor | Jan 11, 2023 | Abortions Rights, LGBTQ+ Issues
Repugnant Homophobe and Representative for HD3, Braxton Mitchell, has introduced yet another BIg Government bill. You may remember Mitchell as the Rep who introduced an anti-drag bill just days after the Club Q shooting. Mitchell’s bigotry is not limited to the LGBTQ+ community. He’s coming after women’s rights as well.
HB 213 Obliterates Medical Privacy
Mitchell has introduced House Bill 213 “An Act Providing for the Certificate of a Nonviable Birth.” Don’t be fooled by the name. Montana already has a process for providing death certificates. Read that law here: https://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/title_0500/chapter_0150/part_0040/section_0030/0500-0150-0040-0030.html
Mitchell isn’t trying to close a legal loophole or help grieving parents. That’s not his style. Like Mitchell’s other bills, he seeks to insert the government into our personal lives. Mitchell’s bill will create a record of every miscarriage and abortion in the state of Montana. There is absolutely no reason our government needs this private medical information. Surely Mitchell doesn’t understand that many women experience miscarriage at home, and there’s no physician involved. Apparently Mitchell is expecting people to fish their dead fetus out of the toilet and take it to a doctor to be declared dead. There is NO benefit whatsoever in requiring this kind of measure.
So what purpose does HB 213 really serve? Criminalizing pregnancy.
Bills like this are a step down the path to criminalizing our uteruses. This measure clearly seeks to discourage reproductive freedom and shame anyone who chooses to abort, with the potential of bringing criminal charges against them should the law change. (And we already know they want to criminalize abortion.) Further, when abortion is illegal, the next step will be investigating miscarriages as a crime.
Republicans love to oversimplify pregnancy and biology in general. They pretend that you can’t get pregnant from rape (Looking at you, Lola Sheldon Galloway). They act as if contraception never fails. They advocate for the fetus but abandon the child once it takes its first breath.
Montanans believe in medical privacy.We don’t need our Representatives prying into our personal lives, and we certainly don’t need them keeping tabs on our uteruses.
Read the entire dumbass bill here:
https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2023/billpdf/HB0213.pdf
