Armed with rainbow Pride flags and signs that read “Let me be me!,” dozens of Montana residents protested at the state capital in Helena against anti-LGBTQ legislation. From The Advocate:
One of the bills, The Religious Freedom Restoration act, has already passed the Senate. If made into law, it would allow people to challenge or ignore government regulations that they say interfere with their religious beliefs.
The government would then have to prove “it’s actions are justified by a compelling interest and are being accomplished by the least restrictive means possible” according to the Associated Press.
LGBTQ+ Montanans fear that the law would be used to challenge anti-discrimination ordinances that exist in some cities. Montana’s Human Rights Act does not include protections based on gender identity.
Other anti-LGBTQ bills in the works in Montana include bills that would require proof of gender reassignment surgery in order to change the gender marker on birth certificates; prohibiting doctors from performing such surgeries on minors (which doesn’t happen); and legislation that would prevent transgender girls from playing school sports. The Advocate reports there are at least 108 bills being considered across the country that target LGBTQ+ people, including 71 specifically anti-trans bills.
(image via Depositphotos) Some news items you might have missed: • Right Wing Watch: Religious anti-gay loon Scott Lively told his radio audience that God removed Donald Trump from the White House because he was too pro-gay. #srsly • NewNowNext: Montana’s House of Representatives has voted in favor of two vehemently anti-transgender bills. The first is House Bill 112, which would bar trans student athletes from playing on sports teams that correspond with their gender identity. The second is House Bill 113, which would block medical professionals from providing potentially life-saving gender-affirming health care to trans or nonbinary youth. • The Frontier: Last April, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt ordered $2 million worth of hydroxychloroquine based, in part, on Donald Trump’s promotion of the malaria drug for use against the coronavirus. Now, the state is trying to unload nearly the entire shipment.
• Instinct Magazine: Nearly two months after coming out as a transgender male, Elliot Page and wife Emma Portner have filed for divorce. • NBC News: A gay New York City couple say they were harassed and asked to leave a restaurant this month because of their sexuality. Because the incident happened in New York, the men may have legal recourse, but in nearly half the states, they would not. • New York Times: Grindr has been fined 100 million Norwegian kroner, or about $11.7 million, for illegally disclosing private details about its users to advertising companies.
Norway’s Data Protection Authority said it plans to fine dating app Grindr $11.7 million for what the regulator said was illegal disclosure of user data to advertising firms https://t.co/QD5YYjOTJJ
• Justice Department: The Wisconsin pharmacist who intentionally intended to render hundreds of doses of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine ineffective pleaded guilty to two charges filed today in federal court. Steven R. Brandenburg, an admitted skeptic of vaccines in general, now faces up to 10 years for each charge against him. • Reuters: The good news – By a vote of 55-45 the U.S. Senate on Tuesday rejected a Republican effort to stop former President Donald Trump’s upcoming impeachment trial on a charge that he incited the deadly Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol. The bad news – Democrats need more than 5 GOP Senators to vote to convict Trump.
Two American women who were detained by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent for speaking Spanish in a convenience store in Montana have reportedly agreed to a settlement after suing the agency. Martha “Mimi” Hernandez and Ana Suda and were buying groceries in a store in the town of Havre on May 16, 2018, when CBP Agent Paul O’Neal stopped them and asked for their IDs. He told the pair (on video) that he was stopping them because he overheard them “speaking Spanish which is very unheard of ‘up here.'” Note – Hernandez was born in El Centro, California, and moved to Montana in 2010. Suda was born in El Paso, Texas, and moved to Montana in 2014. USA Todayreports that during the lawsuit, text messages were found on O’Neill’s phone that contained derogatory and racist language. According to the ACLU, the lawsuit also found O’Neill belonged to a secret Facebook group called the “I’m 10-15,” where CBP agents and former agents shared ugly comments and joked about the deaths of migrants. The group has since been disbanded. A video statement obtained by the ACLU showed a CBP supervisor admitting that his agents routinely viewed people speaking Spanish with suspicion in Havre, which is majority white but has a growing Latino population. “[Havre] is a small place,” the CBP supervisor said on the video. “And we have a lot of agents here, and nobody really has much to do… I was sitting at the mall off duty with my family. I’m sitting there at the restaurant, I look up it’s — there’s two Mexicans. Maybe I should call about this.” The amount of the settlement has not been disclosed. Hernandez and Suda eventually moved away from Havre after facing backlash for speaking out.
Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana Two-term Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana appears ready to reverse himself on previous statements and announce a run for the U.S. Senate for his state. From the New York Times:
For months, even when he was still a presidential candidate, Mr. Bullock has faced questions about whether he would take on Mr. Daines. And when he dropped out of the presidential race in December — after a spirited but underfunded campaign — he again said that he would not run for the Senate.
But Mr. Bullock, who is barred by term limits from running for re-election this year, has faced one of the most sustained lobbying campaigns of any would-be Senate candidate — a reflection both of his potential as a candidate and how badly Democrats need to put another seat in play.
Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, flew to visit him in Montana last month. And when Mr. Bullock was in Washington last month for the meeting of the National Governors Association, he also met with former President Barack Obama, as was reported by Politico.
More quietly, a handful of union officials have reached out to Mr. Bullock to assure him he would have all the resources he needs in a state that still retains a strong labor tradition, according to one of the party officials, who was familiar with the conversations.
Yesterday, I reported on a Montana man who picked up a 13-year-old boy and slammed him to the ground for not removing his hat during the national anthem at a state fair.
The boy had to be airlifted to a hospital where he was diagnosed with a fractured skull and his ears bled for over six hours.
The lawyer for the accused assaulter now says his client, 39-year-old Curt Brockway, believed he was acting on orders from President Trump.
The attorney for a 39-year-old man charged with assaulting a child who didn’t take his hat off for the national anthem says his client, compromised by a traumatic brain injury, believes he was acting on an order from President Donald Trump.
Superior resident Curt Brockway was charged Monday with felony assault on a minor. His defense attorney, Lance Jasper, told the Missoulian Wednesday the president’s “rhetoric” contributed to the U.S. Army veteran’s disposition when he choke-slammed a 13-year-old, fracturing his skull, at the Mineral County fairgrounds on Aug. 3.
“His commander in chief is telling people that if they kneel, they should be fired, or if they burn a flag, they should be punished,” Jasper said. “He certainly didn’t understand it was a crime.”
A 39-year-old Montana man was arrested for a violent assault on a 13-year-old boy fracturing the teen’s skull.
Curt James Brockway reportedly told authorities “he had every right” to pick the boy up and slam him to the ground because, in his opinion, the teen had disrespected the national anthem by not removing his hat.
USA Today reports the boy had to be airlifted to a hospital due to the attack. His parent’s told the press he bled from his ears for nearly six hours.
Prosecutors asked Brockway’s bond be set at $100,000, but the judge allowed him to be released on his own recognizance.
Brockway is apparently registered as a violent offender with a police record going back to 2010.
Watch the report from local news station KPAX below:
Update – CNN’s Don Lemon chats with ‘plaid shirt guy’ whose name is Tyler Linfesty, a Billings West High School senior.
Watch his informative interview with Lemon below.
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With all the hyperbolic statements Donald Trump made last night at a rally in Billings, Montana, one attendee was unable to suppress his expressions.
Take a look at green plaid shirt guy – hysterical.
This hilarious, too-candid guy behind Trump was deemed an unsuitable background prop by the Trump choreographers. He was replaced (see next tweet) with someone who could actually feign enthusiasm for Dear Leader.
Eventually, someone noticed and decided the guy was not ‘Trumpian’ enough to sit behind the Trumpster.
Weirdest thing just happened at Trump rally in Montana. The guy in plaid shirt behind Trump must not hv been cheering enough so a woman walked up and asked him to move and She took his spot #inners#maddow#LastWordpic.twitter.com/pTOq2kBwgb
But this has to be my favorite moment of the rally. Check out green plaid shirt guy wondering “Have you?” when the president says he’s picked up “a lot” of support.
this was one of my favorites ‘we’ve picked up a lot of support’ plaid shirt guy ‘HAVE YOU!??’ pic.twitter.com/omM7i8zwPh
Last thing I have to point out: with all of Trump’s ‘respect for the American flag’ talk, take a look at how this one female support ‘respects’ the flag – by wiping her nose with it.
I’ll take a knee any day.
This Trump supporter in Montana may not have taken a knee like the guys of the NFL but she did . . .
UPDATE – Fox News was present at the incident and have corroborated Jacobs story:
As the time for the interview neared, Gianforte came into the room. We exchanged pleasantries and made small talk about restaurants and Bozeman.
During that conversation, another man — who we now know is Ben Jacobs of The Guardian — walked into the room with a voice recorder, put it up to Gianforte’s face and began asking if he had a response to the newly released Congressional Budget Office report on the American Health Care Act. Gianforte told him he would get to him later. Jacobs persisted with his question. Gianforte told him to talk to his press guy, Shane Scanlon.
At that point, Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him. Faith, Keith and I watched in disbelief as Gianforte then began punching the reporter. As Gianforte moved on top of Jacobs, he began yelling something to the effect of, “I’m sick and tired of this!”
Jacobs scrambled to his knees and said something about his glasses being broken. He asked Faith, Keith and myself for our names. In shock, we did not answer. Jacobs then said he wanted the police called and went to leave. Gianforte looked at the three of us and repeatedly apologized. At that point, I told him and Scanlon, who was now present, that we needed a moment. The men then left.
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Montana’s Republican candidate for Congress, millionaire Greg Gianforte, appears to have anger management issues as tonight’s news cycle is roiled by the story that he allegedly body-slammed a reporter for The Guardian just one day before the special election.
Ben Jacobs, a Guardian political reporter, was asking Greg Gianforte, a tech millionaire running for the seat vacated by Ryan Zinke, about the Republican healthcare plan when the candidate allegedly “body-slammed” the reporter.
“He took me to the ground,” Jacobs said by phone from the back of an ambulance. “This is the strangest thing that has ever happened to me in reporting on politics.” Jacobs subsequently reported the incident to the police. Gianforte’s campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Audio of the abortive interview recorded by Jacobs captures the altercation, and appears to reference previous questioning from another Guardian reporter. “I’m sick and tired of you guys,” Gianforte said. “The last guy who came here did the same thing. Get the hell out of here. Get the hell out of here. The last guy did the same thing. Are you with the Guardian?”
No one from the Gianforte campaign has responded to questions about the incident.
Jacob’s recorder was on during the alleged assault. Listen to audio of the assault below.
Montana’s Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day by announcing an executive order protecting LGBT folks in the state.
Via press release:
In a press conference earlier today Governor Bullock celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. day by noting that it is time to “recommit to King’s values of compassion and equity” by expanding protections for LGBT people in Montana. He also spoke to Montana’s private business owners, stating “while an executive order applies to state government only I encourage private businesses to examine their policies as well.”
“Discrimination in any form is wrong, and through his actions today, Governor Bullock has taken a bold step to expand equality and fairness for all,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “We commend him for doing everything in his administrative power to fight for the rights of LGBT Montanans, and hope his actions encourage other government officials to make safeguarding protections for all residents and visitors a priority.”
Currently there is no federal law or regulation that explicitly bans workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, and Montana is one of 31 states where people are at risk of being fired or refused employment based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
The executive order, which goes into effect immediately, will direct Montana’s Department of Administration to ensure that state agencies, state contractors and subcontractors do not discriminate in employment based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The order also bans discrimination in the provision of government services, and calls for inclusive non-discrimination and harassment prevention programs with an emphasis on cultural diversity.
In 2008, former Governor Brian Schweitzer issued an executive order that protected state employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation. Today, Governor Bullock continues Schweitzer’s pro-equality legacy by extending those same protections based on gender identity, and banning discrimination on both bases by state contractors and subcontractors.
Armed with rainbow Pride flags and signs that read “Let me be me!,” dozens of Montana residents protested at the state capital in Helena against anti-LGBTQ legislation. From The Advocate: 
