Response to Tschida

by Rep. David Bedey, HD 86, Hamilton

In a recent letter, Missoula’s Brad Tschida accused me of failing to protect female legislators from “physical and mental abuse and anguish.” At issue is my vote against a legislative rule (not a law, but rather a parliamentary procedure applicable only to the Legislature) that would have forbidden Montana’s lone transgender legislator from using the women’s restroom in the Capitol. It is a shame that Tschida chose both to misrepresent the facts and to do so in such an ad hominem manner.

So let’s turn the heat down and assess the situation.

First, it’s important to realize that the proposed rule would have only applied to a single women’s restroom in the Montana Capitol—which is off-limits to the public—and nowhere else in Montana. But such a rule is unnecessary because protecting the privacy of female legislators had already been accomplished during the 2023 session by placing locks on the restroom doors. This solution—approved by then-House Speaker Matt Regier and other conservative legislative leaders—worked then and will work again during the 2025 session.  Contra Tschida’s claim, the safety of my female colleagues is not at risk.

But some believe that adopting this “bathroom rule” would “send a message.” Fair enough. But let’s consider how this would likely play out. First, within days the Legislature would be sued for violating the transgender legislator’s constitutional rights. Because the law is unsettled at both the state and federal level—even regarding the definitions of sex and gender—there is a good chance the Legislature would lose. (Recent court decisions in Montana substantiate this concern.) And it is quite conceivable that the court would then issue an order not limited to legislative restrooms but that rather would affect restrooms across the entire state. Some might disagree with my analysis. But I am not willing to risk this outcome by prematurely forcing this issue into the courts.

The controversy over gender dysphoria ranges from bathroom privacy to fairness in girls’ sports to so-called gender-affirming medical procedures performed on minors.  The best path forward is to encourage Congress to amend federal law (e.g., Title IX) to ensure that sex and gender are different things in the eyes of the law and to explicitly protect women’s rights. The Legislature then would be in a position to craft sound policy that is respectful of the rights of all and that could stand up in court.

I’m not up for enabling transgender activists or rightwing opportunists to distract the Legislature from doing its work in 2025. And I am not alone. A week after I took my vote, President-elect Donald Trump took essentially the same position concerning restroom access in Congress when responding to questions raised while being interviewed as the 2024 TIME Person of the Year.

I look forward to regularly reporting to you on the issues coming before the Legislature. Alas, this likely is not the last you will hear from Brad Tschida, a former legislator who now fashions himself a political commissar whose mission it is to enforce ideological purity within the Republican Party—by any means necessary. Remember that when his next vitriolic tantrum hits the papers.