6/10/2023 0 Comments Npr hourly news summaruyThe governor’s office responded to a request for comment about David’s characterizations in a brief statement Tuesday night. And he was very willing to meet with me.” “I felt that the best way to go about this would be to reach out to him in a more formal manner. “I do have a family relationship with my father that I’m trying to preserve,” David said, adding that he didn’t engage with his father on legislation during the 2021 session. They said they weighed whether to broach the topic with their father, and what might be risked in the process. Throughout the current legislative session, David said, he closely tracked the bills as they passed through the Republican-held chambers toward his father’s desk. David said that after he first told his parents he was gay in 2020, the family never talked about it at length again. He said his family, including siblings who live in other states, doesn’t typically discuss politics. When can we get together to talk about it?” the governor wrote, signing the email, “Love, Dad.”ĭavid Gianforte, a Bozeman resident with a background in computer science, hasn’t previously spoken publicly about his gender identity or his relationship with his father, who in 2021 became Montana’s first Republican governor in 16 years. “I would like to better understand your thoughts and concerns. The elder Gianforte responded hours later, according to an email exchange David provided to Montana Free Press, thanking David for writing about an issue that was important to him. Otherwise I would regret the missed opportunity,” David said. “I felt somewhat of an obligation to speak with him about it. He said he initially reached out to his father over email, asking him “as your constituent and your son” to veto the legislation advancing toward his desk. But David said they felt strongly about using their connection and access to one of the state’s most powerful elected officials to bring more light to issues impacting LGBTQ+ Montanans. In an April 25 interview, he said he didn’t know what kind of impact lobbying his father, the governor, might have. ![]() Now that Senate Bill 99 is on its way to his desk, reporters took the opportunity to ask the governor about the bill and its possible impact during a March 30 press conference.ĭavid, who identifies as nonbinary and uses “he” and “they” pronouns, is the governor’s second oldest of four children. Greg Gianforte have been tight-lipped about where the administration stands on the bill as written. ![]() ![]() For my own sake I’ve chosen to focus primarily on transgender rights, as that would significantly directly affect a number of my friends … I would like to make the argument that these bills are immoral, unjust, and frankly a violation of human rights.”Įver since the Republican-backed ban on gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth passed the Montana House March 24, spokespersons for Gov. “There are a lot of important issues passing through the legislature right now. Thanks for setting aside time to meet with me, it means a lot to me,” David said. Sitting across from his father in the governor’s office, with Gianforte’s top health adviser present, David said, he read his printed statement out loud. He wanted to talk about Senate Bill 99, a ban on gender-affirming health care for minors Senate Bill 458, a bill to define sex as strictly binary in Montana code and House Bill 359, a ban on drag performances in many public spaces. In late March, David Gianforte made an appointment to talk about three bills with Montana’s Republican governor, Greg Gianforte, who happens to be his father.ĭavid, 32, sat down in the governor’s office on March 27 with a prepared statement about legislation affecting transgender Montanans and the LGBTQ+ community generally, to which David says he belongs.
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