Montana's House just voted to censure its first openly transgender lawmaker after protests and days of not letting her speak

In a party-line vote, Montana's Republican-led state legislature voted on Wednesday to censure Democratic state Rep. Zooey Zephyr, Montana's first openly transgender woman legislator. In doing so, Zephyr will not be allowed on the House floor or gallery for the remainder of the legislative session.

Speaking on the House floor before the vote on Wednesday, Zephyr said the Montana legislature has "systematically" attacked the LGBTQ community, which is why she previously admonished the Republican-led legislature for pushing through a bill banning gender-affirming care for minors on April 18.

"We have seen bills targeting our art forms, our books, our history, and our healthcare," Zephyr said Wednesday. "And I rose up in defense of my community that day speaking to the harms that these bills bring and that I have firsthand experience knowing about."