“When she first ran I thought, ‘They’re going to do something to limit her power,’” said Erin Flint, 28, a native who plans to enroll in the university for a graduate degree in art education. Zephyr’s constituents were both shocked and reminded of the growing distance between them and the rest of their state. This week, the hot ticket was the International Wildlife Film Festival, featuring a parade in which people dressed in animal costumes marched through downtown. Nestled in a narrow valley at the northwestern edge of the state, Missoula is proud of its funky, countercultural style. Zephyr was elected with 80% of the vote in November in her heavily liberal district, which runs through the oddly-aligned section of central Missoula known as the Slant Streets and stretches to the doorstep of the University of Montana, the 7,000-student school that has long fueled the town’s liberal sensibility. On Wednesday, Republicans voted to bar Zephyr from the House floor for the remainder of the legislative session, scheduled to end next month. Their new representative, Zooey Zephyr, was barred last week from speaking on the floor of the Legislature by the Republican majority, which accused her of violating decorum by saying they had “blood on your hands” for approving a bill barring gender-affirming care for minors.

Its voters, fully aware that they are vastly outnumbered by conservatives statewide, were still shocked at what happened next. Often described as a blue island in a vast red state, Missoula sent the first openly transgender female legislator in Montana history to the state capital.

Even a downtown crosswalk is rainbow-colored. MISSOULA, Montana (AP) - In the college town of Missoula, pride flags are as common a sight as the peaks of Montana’s Rattlesnake Mountains.

Missoula by Jon Krakauer