Some Republicans joined Democrats in rejecting the measure, which would have restricted bathroom access. Rep. Zooey Zephyr, Montana's first openly transgender legislator, won a second term last month.

Trans lawmaker who was censured by the state legislator before her reelection says effort to bar her from using women’s bathroom is a ‘distraction from the work we were elected to do’

Montana Republicans in 2023 voted to silence Zephyr from floor debates for breaking decorum after she said lawmakers who backed a ban on gender-affirming healthcare for minors wou