Dear Editor,
I’m Angry That Women Are Being Erased by Discrimination
I sponsored House Bill 121 to protect the privacy, dignity, and safety of women and girls in vulnerable spaces like restrooms, locker rooms, prisons and shelters. The bill ensures that these spaces are defined by biological sex — not self-perception, feelings or identity. That is not discrimination. What is discrimination is forcing women to surrender their boundaries, their safety, and their identity in the name of political correctness.
Now, a judge has blocked the law — and in doing so, he’s adamantly siding with a worldview that treats biological truth as hate speech and women’s concerns as bigotry. The opinion claims the law is unsupported and driven by hostility. But let’s be honest: the real bias in this case sits with the court.
Judge Shane Vannatta’s personal hostility toward codifying biological reality has already been well established. Prior to serving on the bench, Judge Vannatta served on the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Commission for the American Bar Association — a group whose mission is to advance diversity and inclusion for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals. He’s also featured prominently on the website of the International Association of LGBTQ+ Judges. Perhaps that’s why he’s become the go-to jurist for lawsuits challenging Montana’s definitions of male, female, and biological sex. His personal bias has certainly helped advance gender ideology — at the expense of the rights, safety, and dignity of real women and girls across Montana.
What we’re witnessing is not inclusion — it is the systematic displacement of women. Women are being told to step aside, to be quiet, and to give up their protections in service of a new political orthodoxy. I reject that. I reject the idea that it’s “discrimination” to say women deserve their own spaces. I reject the idea that we can’t speak biological truth without being dragged into court and I reject the premise that this bill is motivated by animus.
We’ve fought too long and too hard for women’s rights to watch them be redefined out of existence. I’m not ashamed of my convictions — I’m proud of them. I believe women matter. I believe words matter. And I believe the truth still matters.
HB 121 is about restoring boundaries, restoring common sense, and restoring the basic recognition that women are real — and they deserve to be protected.
Kerri Seekins-Crowe
Billings, MT
