Montana trans, two spirit and non-binary activists fight anti-trans legislation
Their advocacy network is striving for a more equitable state while building power across issue lines.
Courtesy of Steven-Bear Twoteeth
Two years ago, on a January evening, Steven-Bear Twoteeth sat on the floor of a friend’s one-bedroom apartment in Helena, Montana’s state capital. Surrounded by fellow advocates, he prepared for the state’s upcoming legislative session. “We were like, ‘How do you pass a bill?’ Or, ‘What does HB” — house bill — “mean?’ ” he remembers. When he arrived at the Capitol, he testified before a committee, speaking on the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women while wondering how vulnerable and personal his words should be.
Twoteeth is a queer and two spirit man of the Ojibwe, Cree, Blackfeet and Pend d’Oreille tribes. He’s part of the broad coalition of transgender and two spirit Montanans who are opposing two bills in the Montana Legislature this session — House Bill 112, which mandates that women’s sports teams in public schools accept only athletes who were assigned female at birth, and House Bill 113, which denies trans teens access to gender-affirming health care. These bills aren’t unique to Montana: They’re popping up across the country, from Mississippi to Utah. But in this increasingly conservative and mostly rural state, they’ve galvanized a response from a diverse cohort of activists and organizers — people like Twoteeth, who are lobbying for trans, two spirit and Indigenous rights.
In the last few decades, informal support networks for trans and two spirit Montanans have been growing here. In 2017, the state’s first trans-specific policy group formed in response to a bill that would have prevented transgender people from using public bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity. The Free and Fair Coalition, which continues to fight anti-trans legislation in Montana, comprises approximately a dozen organizations, including the Montana Human Rights Network, the Indigenous Organizers Collective and TransVisible Montana. Those groups amplify the voices of trans and two spirit Montanans, who are becoming increasingly visible and outspoken. “(The lack of visibility) was just about who was paying attention,” Mija, a two spirit advocate and educator who works with TransVisible MT and the Indigenous Organizers Collective, said.
