News & Commentary

We have eight reasons why I-183 would be unconstitutional.
I-183 would require government officials at the state and local level to prevent Montanans from using bathrooms and other public facilities based on a medically inaccurate and subjective assessment of a person’s gender. This violates Montanans’ fundamental rights to privacy and dignity.The measure prevents transgender and non-binary Montanans from having equal access to public facilities because of their gender identity.The initiative subjects all Montanans to scrutiny of their gender expression, and invades their privacy and individual dignity. Any Montanan could be stopped by government officials and private individuals if another person does not think they satisfy stereotypes of what it means to be ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine.’The initiative would force transgender and non-binary Montanans out of public life and prevent them from pursuing life’s basic necessities – in this case, using the bathroom in a public building.The measure forces the government to interfere with an individual’s right to make private decisions about which public facilities they should use.Because I-183 defines sex as “a person’s immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth,” state and local governments would be forced to access private medical information to determine what facility an individual should use.The measure would gut nondiscrimination laws put in place by cities throughout Montana, including Butte, Bozeman, Missoula, Helena, and Whitefish.I-183 is vague and unenforceable. Montanans and local governments charged with enforcing I-183 have no guidance on how to comply with I-183’s requirements and as a result would be exposed to costly lawsuits.  The “bounty” provision of I-183 empowers vigilantes to sue local governments when they believe an individual is not using the facility that corresponds with the sex assigned on an original birth certificate. 

Dear Senator Daines,

Superintendent Elsie ArntzenMontana Office of Public Instruction

As a college student, Helen Weems spent a semester in Costa Rica and lived with a host family in a small village.

Caitlin Borgmann, Executive Director of the ACLU of Montana and an expert in reproductive rights law

Jay Harris, Big Horn County Attorney, has announced a “crackdown policy” that targets pregnant women who use alcohol or drugs. Nine organizations who advocate for the health and safety of pregnant woman have voiced their opposition of this policy, which places the health of pregnant women and their families at risk while failing to address the issue of addiction and rehabilitation.

Montana’s budget crisis offered state legislators the opportunity to set aside politics and create budget solutions for Montana. Unfortunately, at a time when the needs of vulnerable Montanans should have created consensus, our elected officials targeted the transgender community for discrimination and kowtowed to the for-profit prison industry.