To those who went to Helena to testify - The Western Montana ...

Mr. SEibEl
goES to
HElEnA
By A.D. Seibel
Interestingly enough, it’s been many years since
I’ve been to Helena. In fact, my recollection of my last
adventure there is so hazy that I seriously question
whether or not it actually happened. Regardless of my
memory lapse, my trusty design editor and I resolved
to be in Helena to testify for House Bill 514 and against
House Bill 516 and witness for ourselves what a day at
the Capitol is like. Now, unless you just climbed out
your bomb shelter in Wisdom, MT that you’ve been
living in for the past 20 years, some really important
things have happened. First, we have a black president,
second: Grunge is dead. So, HB 514 would have added
sexual orientation and gender identity as protected
classes of people to the Montana Human Rights Act.
While HB 516 will try to nullify Missoula’s own antidiscrimination
ordinance that prevents discrimination
of LGBT people in employment, housing, and public accommodations.
As of print, HB 514 died in committee,
while HB 516 heads to the Senate.
Now I’m sure we all know (and love) plenty of
Helena staffers, lobbyists, and representatives; people
who we trust find the good fight on our behalf during
the legislative session. So why go to Helena this week,
and for that matter, why not just go to Helena every
week then? The answer is obvious, our rights as LG-
BTIQ people of Montana are endangered and most of
us, contrary to popular belief, don’t get paid to be up
there. So, a few of us caravanned up to Helena Thursday
night so we could testify in front of the House
Judiciary Committee 8 a.m. the next morning. Friday
morning found our little party awake at an abominable
hour bleary eyed and gearing up for the day. I was
already so nervous about testifying that I couldn’t even
think about drinking a cup of coffee for fear I would
constantly need to use the restroom and miss the hearing.
We actually got to the Capitol on time and were
reminded that the Judiciary Committee had decided to
limit testimony to 10 minutes for each side and that the
very second the usher called our bills we needed to
muscle in so we could get seats in order to “pack” the
room. And for the record, if you’re thinking that this is
just some fluke in the Democratic process, the bill to
allow spear hunting got a full two-hour hearing. After a
few anxious minutes of trying to get in to the commit-
tee hearing, Rep. Ellie Boldman Hill (D-Missoula) burst
open the door and grabbed a handful of us and, as easy
as that, we were in.
So, let me set the scene for you, the committee is
14 to 6, Republicans with the clear majority and not
just any Republicans. We’re talking Rep. Wendy Warburton
of the Home Guard bill and Rep. Bob Wagner
of the “birther” bill, both of whom managed to make
Montana look like a group of ignorant militias who only
know how to say four words, “America is for Americans.”
Now, you’d think I would be intimidated, and I
was until I received the sign in sheet that everyone is
required to sign before testifying and low and behold
there’s Dallas Erickson’s name at the top of the list with
and X in support of HB 514. WHAT? Just kidding,
Erickson, who worked hard to prevent the Missoula
ordinance from passing last year, in his haste accidently
marked in support instead of opposition and quickly
changed it, but not before a few of us had a few choice
giggles.
“tiM rAvndAl wAS
tHErE wEAring
wHAt i CAn only
dESCribE AS
ConStitutionAliSt
lEAtHEr dAddy CHiC.”
We grabbed seats and watched the finishing testimony
on a bill, from what I could gather, was about
“asserting” state sovereignty which literally translated
into that if Montana didn’t like some federal law we
would just opt to ignore it as if we were our own sovereign
nation. Tim Ravndal was there in support wearing
what I can only describe as Constitutionalist leather
daddy chic. There were only two people who testified
against this particular bill, but one must note that the
committee chairman Rep. Ken Peterson (R-Billings) interrupted
the opposition’s testimony to the point of
rudeness. It did not bode well. This is where the hearing
gets a little dicey. All of a sudden its time to hear
HB 514 and the committee is asking the sponsor, Rep.
Edie McClafferty (D-Butte) why there isn’t a fiscal note
on the bill and she’s like, “why would there be a fiscal
note?” It doesn’t cost anything to offer people equal
protections under the law.
All the usual suspects were there; Jeff Laszloffy
of the Montana Family Foundation, Dallas Erickson of
Montana Citizens for Decency through Law, Pattie Kanduch
of Concerned Women for America of Montana,
and everybody’s favorite, Pastor Harris Himes of the
Montana Eagle Forum. All of them had something to
say about how the LGBT community didn’t need “special
rights” because there wasn’t a documented case of
discrimination, or how transgender people have mental
illnesses, and how homosexuality is a choice and if we
just chose not to be gay we wouldn’t have any problems.
There were others but they ran out of time. On
a weird and kinda comical note there was one angry, elderly
gentleman who went off on a tangent about ACT
UP and how they were all “liars” and since he was a
doctor he knew about these things. Feel free to check
it out some of their “informed” testimony on YouTube,
trust me, it’s not hard to find. Testimony on 516 was
just as ridiculous with Himes, now famously, declaring
that the punishment for homosexuality is death. A big
thank you Rep. Hill for getting that on record!
I could go on for the next six pages about how
much their testimony sucked, how frustrating and untrue
it all was, but I’d rather have you read some of the
testimony people submitted but weren’t allowed to be
heard. I’d rather have you watch Carol William’s speech
in front of the Jeantte Rankin statue on the second
floor of the Capitol after the hearing (it’s on YouTube.)
It is here in these pages you will read about real people
with real lives that are affected by discrimination or
simply believe that everyone, absolutely everyone deserves
equal protections under the law. Sure, we left
Helena that day feeling defeated and fearing the worst,
but we all came home to our friends, lovers, and families
and probably knew that no matter what some wing
nut says or thinks they will never be able to take our
humanity away. Sure, our first Out Words legislative
experience was terrible, but seeing and meeting the
people who fight for our rights everyday, made me feel
just as motivated to testify in the Senate when HB 516
comes up again.
In Lieu of News briefs, this
month out words sent out an
open call to all of those who
were denied the right to testify
at the hearings in helena
and we would like to share
their stories with you.
Out Words 4