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Debate intensifies over 'Free to Speak' bill as Montana lawmakers weigh employees' and students' speech protections
Summary
Montana lawmakers heard sharply divided testimony on House Bill 400, which would bar discipline of students, public school employees and state employees who decline to use nonlegal names or preferred pronouns.
Montana's Senate Judiciary Committee heard sharply divided testimony on House Bill 400, the "Free to Speak Act," which would bar punishment of students, public school employees and state employees for declining to use nonlegal names or preferred pronouns.
Sponsor Rep. Braxton Mitchell, R, said the bill protects free expression and conscience. "This bill upholds the first amendment," the sponsor said, arguing the measure shields people from being compelled to use language they believe is false. "Men are men. Women are women. Biology is biology," Mitchell said, framing the measure as protection from compelled speech.
Proponents said students and teachers have faced discipline in campus and school settings over pronoun use and that…
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