Remember The Asshat Legislator Who Tried To Repeal LGBT Rights In Montana?

She's totally a closeted lesbian. So says my very trusted tipster who adds this about Montana state GOP Rep. Kristin Hansen: "She lives with a woman who she introduces to others as her 'friend' but has confirmed to a handful of people is her partner. The partner's ex has also been telling people what's up." Hansen was first elected to office last year with the backing of the Tea Party.

Last month Hansen failed in her attempt to issue a statewide repeal of all local LGBT rights in Montana, a law that would have only affected the small town of Missoula, the one place in the state with LGBT anti-discrimination protections. According to my source, Hansen will be outed at an upcoming meeting of University of Montana students.

RELATED: Is this our first teabagger outing?

MONTANA: House Committee Kills Bill Decriminalizing Homosexuality

It's still technically illegal to be gay in Montana, thanks to their GOP-led House Judiciary Committee which today voted down a bill which would have brought the state in line with the Supreme Court's landmark 2003 ruling in Lawrence Vs. Texas. Somebody needs to orchestrate an arrest by a gay-friendly cop and then sue the fuck out of Montana, pronto.

MONTANA: Bill To Ban All Local LGBT Rights Passes House 60-39

Montana's House yesterday voted 60-39 to approve Rep. Kristin Hansen's bill to ban all local LGBT rights ordinances in the state.

The House took the first steps Tuesday toward striking down Missoula's 2010 ordinance that bans discrimination against city residents based on their sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. Missoula's Democratic legislators were infuriated by the passage of House Bill 516, by Rep. Kristin Hansen, R-Havre. Her bill passed 60-39 and faces a final House vote before heading to the Senate. Sixty Republicans voted for it. All 32 Democrats voted opposed it, joined by seven Republicans. One Republican was absent.

Rep. Sue Malek (D-Missoula) denounced the bill: "Leave us alone. Leave us alone. For heaven's sake. We're one little town in a corner of Montana that has nothing to do with you. You know, I mean, why can't you let people live like they need to live their lives. Why can't they love who they want to love? Why? I don't understand it."

MONTANA: Bozeman Commission Backs Gay Couples In Lawsuit Against State

The Montana GOP might want to outlaw gay sex, but the Bozeman City Commission is more enlightened. Yesterday Bozeman's city commissioners unanimously approved a resolution backing a pending lawsuit demanding equal treatment for LGBT couples in Montana. Bozeman, population 27,000, maybe be small by most standards, but they are the fifth largest town in Montana and the very first to back LGBT rights.

From a group of pro-gay activists holding signs and cheering outside, to the packed seats of the commission room, City Hall was filled with powerful emotion during a Monday night meeting. Commissioners heard from comments on all sides of the homosexuality debate before making their unanimous decision to support the resolution. Mayor Jeff Krauss drafted the document, saying he wants Bozeman to put forth a clear message. "I think there are kids out there that are terrified of who they are and what they are," Krauss said. "They need to hear they are all welcome here and yes life for you can be normal here in Bozeman." "So proud, very proud and very grateful. The commission (is) doing the right thing at the risk of losing political cash," said one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Mary Leslie.

Seven gay couples are suing Montana. The case resumes next month.

UPDATE: The ACLU's LGBT Project writes us to offer more details about the case.

Seven committed same-sex couples have sued the state of Montana for failing to offer legal protections to same-sex couples and their families in violation of the Montana Constitution’s rights of privacy, dignity and the pursuit of life’s basic necessities and its guarantees of equal protection and due process. The goal of this lawsuit is to see that same-sex couples are able to protect their families with the same kind of legal protections that the State offers to different-sex couples through marriage. Because there is a constitutional amendment in Montana barring marriage for same-sex couples, this lawsuit is not seeking marriage. The couples in the suit are seeking the protection of state-recognized domestic partnerships.

MONTANA: Republican Party Wants To "Keep Homosexual Acts Illegal"

The Montana GOP refuses to remove a call to "keep homosexual acts illegal", which falls under the "Crime" section of their party platform, despite the Supreme Court's 2003 Lawrence ruling. In fact, they are keeping the plank even though Montana's own state Supreme Court struck down a ban on gay sex six years before SCOTUS.

Montana GOP executive director Bowen Greenwood said that has been the position of the party since the state Supreme Court struck down state laws criminalizing homosexuality in 1997 in the case of Gryczan v. Montana. Nobody has ever taken the initiative to change it and so it's remained in the party platform, Greenwood said. The matter has never even come up for discussion, he said. "There had been at the time, and still is, a substantial portion of Republican legislators that believe it is more important for the Legislature to make the law instead of the Supreme Court," Greenwood said.

Critics say the policy is a toothless statement, the effect of which is simply to make gays feel excluded. A University of Montana law professor says Montana's 1997 case and the U.S. Supreme Court's Lawrence decision means there's no real chance for the state GOP to act on its position. "To me, that statement legally is hollow," said constitutional specialist Jack Tuholske. "The principle under Gryczan and under Lawrence, that's the fundamental law of the land and the Legislature can't override the Constitution. It might express their view, but as far as a legal reality, it's a hollow view and can't come to pass."

RELATED: In June the Texas GOP called for the recriminalization of sodomy and for making it a felony to perform a same-sex marriage.

MONTANA: Tea Party Head Fired After Facebook Joke About Killing Gays

Montana Tea Party president Tim Ravndal has been fired after making Facebook jokes about the murder of Matthew Shepard in a posting denouncing same-sex marriage and the ACLU. Ravndal's Facebook friend: "I think fruits are decorative. Hang up where they can be seen and appreciated. Call Wyoming for display instructions.” Ravndal responded: "Where can I get that Wyoming printed instruction manual?" The Montana Tea Party issued this statement announcing Ravndal's firing:

We are extremely disappointed by Mr. Ravndal’s commentary. The discussion in that Facebook conversation is entirely outside the position of the Big Sky Tea Party. Even though Mr. Ravndal was having a personal conversation and made no reference to our group, we felt strongly that swift and decisive action was required as we cannot accept that sort of behavior from within our membership, let alone from an officer of the corporation.

MONTANA: State Sued By ACLU On Behalf Of Seven Gay Couples

Today the ACLU filed suit against the state of Montana on behalf of seven same-sex couples in a move to legalize domestic partnerships. Via press release:

The goal of this lawsuit is ensure that same-sex couples are able to protect their families with the same kind of legal protections that opposite-sex couples are offered through marriage. Because there is a constitutional amendment in Montana barring marriage for same-sex couples, the couples in the lawsuit are seeking the protection of state-recognized domestic partnerships, similar to those in place in several other states. “Mary Anne and I are part of a family unit, bonded by love and mutual respect and a desire to share in a close relationship that benefits not only us, as partners, but our wider family and the entire community,” said Jan Donaldson, a Helena nurse, of her 27-year relationship with her partner, pediatric neurologist Mary Anne Guggenheim. “We depend on one another, in all aspects of our life together. We want to be able to do that with grace and dignity and to feel secure that our relationship will be respected. We want our relationship to be recognized for what it clearly is – a loving commitment of responsibility worthy of security and protection by the state.”

Montana law automatically grants married opposite-sex couples safeguards upon which they can depend in times of need. But, under Montana law, it is possible for same-sex couples to be barred from visiting their partners in the hospital and to be left out of conversations about emergency medical care. Montana inheritance laws refuse to recognize same-sex couples, and can leave surviving partners with nothing if their partners die without valid wills. Today’s lawsuit seeks a mechanism such as the domestic partnership laws adopted by several other states to provide similar protections for committed same-sex couples.

Family Research Council: Sex Education Will Teach Kids To Be Gay

MONTANA: Bigots File Lawsuit To Overturn Small Town's New LGBT Rights Law

Back in April the city council of the small town of Missoula, Montana added LGBT people to its housing and employment protections. Now the idiots behind the site Not My Bathroom have filed a lawsuit against the town claiming their petition attempt to have the law repealed by referendum is being blocked.

The lawsuit says plaintiffs diligently worked to craft a valid petition but faced "discriminatory delaying tactics." The filing appears to ask the court to mandate the defendants put the ordinance on the ballot or explain why they shouldn't "perform their statutory duties." When contacted, plaintiff Tei Nash would not clarify the demands and directed calls to his attorney, who could not immediately be reached for comment. NotMyBathroom.com formed to fight the anti-discrimination ordinance, which the Missoula City Council adopted April 13. The measure protects people in the gay, lesbian and transgender community from discrimination in housing and employment. Some opponents who fought the ordinance before it was approved now want to put it on the ballot. If they had turned in enough signatures on a valid petition within 60 days of adoption, the law would have gone dark while awaiting voter response at the ballot. So the lawsuit also asks the court to stop the clock on the 60 days, "taking into account that Respondents' tactics denied Petitioners the June 8 primary voting opportunity to collect signatures."

NotMyBathroom.com claims the law should "more accurately be called the Peeping Tom Ordinance." During the debate to approve the law, the daughter of the site's creator argued against her own father before the city council, telling her dad that she had "lost all respect for you."

LGBT Rights For Missoula, Montana

Yesterday the Missoula, Montana city council voted 10-2 to approve of adding LGBT people to the city's employment and housing discrimination laws.

"Most of us can't remember civil rights in action," said Councilwoman Stacy Rye, an ordinance sponsor. "This is it for us. This is our lifetimes." In front of citizens who sat through a nearly seven-hour meeting, the council voted 10-2 in favor of the measure - which protects Missoula residents from housing and employment discrimination based on "actual or perceived ... sexual orientation, gender identity or expression." The measure passed at 1:45 a.m. "Hopefully our actions tonight will ripple through Montana from Libby to Billings, from Dillon to Wolf Point, and eventually to the capital in Helena," said Councilman Dave Strohmaier, another sponsor of the ordinance. Early in the evening, Mayor John Engen warned people he would recess the meeting if the audience clapped for anyone - for or against the proposal. When the final vote was taken, the pent-up applause erupted and many supporters who remained in the room offered the council a standing ovation.

As I noted yesterday, the civil rights battle in Missoula was marked by lies about men in ladies rooms, a charge that was refuted by some local clergy on their competing website. One young local woman confronted the man behind the lying website, Not My Bathroom, during the hearing. It was her own father.

"Dad. I strongly disagree with the way you have been portraying the LGBT community," said Taryn Nash, who identified herself as an LGBT member to her father for the first time during the public meeting of the Missoula City Council. "You have gone too far. I will not sit back any more and be quiet. I love you because you are my dad, but I have lost respect for you." Nash's father, Tei Nash, is chairman of NotMyBathroom.com, the group formed to defeat the anti-discrimination ordinance, fearing for the safety of families. He apparently had left the overflowing City Council Chambers before she spoke, but on the live television feed, she told her father he risked losing her forever. "You need to realize this crusade you are on is wrong, and it affects me personally," said Taryn Nash, who broke from her studies in Spokane to testify. "Right now I am ashamed to call you my father."

Men In Dresses Prepare To Invade Ladies Rooms In Small Montana Town

Tonight the city council of Missoula, Montana will consider an LGBT anti-discrimination ordinance that has brought out the typical "men in ladies rooms" screams by God's Gentle People™, who last week marched with signs prompted by the NotMyBathroom.com website.

NOTMYBATHROOM.COM is an action to defeat the Missoula anti-discrimination ordinance or more accurately called THE PEEPING TOM PROTECTION ORDINANCE. A review of the ordinance that will be voted on in the Missoula City Council on April 12th reveals the extreme nature of the ordinance and the effect it will have on businesses, churches and virtually all organizations in Missoula City limits. In addition to great expense for businesses to provide toilet facilities, with the additional peril of lawsuits and loss of business licenses, it could also force ministers to perform homosexual marriages. In addition, Missoula ’s taxpayers will probably find themselves paying large attorney fees and court costs when this unconstitutional ordinance is challenged. This could also force the Boy Scouts of America to have homosexual Boy Scout leaders and force them to allow girls to be part of the troops – even though the US Supreme Court has ruled against these requirements.

JMG reader Mike Wessler notes that the above anti-gay site is being countered by some local faith leaders with the site FlushTheFear.com.

Flush the Fear is a group composed of people of faith, including various denominations of the Christian faith, the Jewish faith, and a number of other faith traditions, who live and work in the Missoula area. Our group includes pastors, faith leaders, and lay people. We have joined together in an effort to show the broad support for Lesbian, Gay, Bi, and Transgender (LGBT) equality that exists within communities of faith here in Missoula. Our group will be a leader in articulating God’s justice and ministry of inclusion and hospitality.

Expecting a large crowd, Missoula police are cautioning the public to maintain decorum during the hearing and have set up an auxiliary overflow room with a live feed of the proceedings. Before the vote, there will be a Diversity Day march of supporters to the city council chambers. Follow the proceedings on Twitter on Mike's account.