SJ Howell (born July 3, 1980) is an American politician who represents

Missoula Missoula ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is located along the Clark Fork River near its confluence with the Bitterroot River, Bitterroot and Blackfoot River (Montana), ...

in the 100th district in the

Montana House of Representatives The Montana House of Representatives is, with the Montana Senate, one of the two houses of the Montana Legislature. Composed of 100 members, the House elects its leadership every two years. Composition of the House In the event that the parti ...

. A member of the Democratic Party, Howell was elected in the 2022 election to the 95th district, making them the first

non-binary Non-binary or genderqueer Gender identity, gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gende ...

person to be elected to the state legislature in

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

. Howell was sworn in as a representative on January 2, 2023. Due to redistricting, they ran for the 100th district in the 2024 Montana House of Representatives election. Howell is also the executive director of ''Montana Women Vote'', an organization that has the stated goal "to engage low-income women in the democratic process as informed voters, policy advocates, and community leaders."

Career

SJ Howell has been the executive director of ''Montana Women Vote'' since 2013, and has been an activist and lobbyist for women and the LGBTQ+ community. In 2021, they lobbied and spoke publicly against bills that advocates for LGBTQ+ rights saw as discriminatory. Howell announced their campaign to run for the 95th district in February 2022. Howell ran uncontested in the Democratic primary, and defeated the Republican nominee Lauren Subith by more than 2,000 votes in the general election. Subsequently, Howell and Zooey Zephyr became the first two openly

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

persons to ever be elected to the Montana Legislature.

2023 legislative session

In January 2023, Howell introduced their first piece of legislation, House Bill 238, which would have expanded the eligibility requirements for Montana's Best Beginnings program, a child care scholarship program. In April 2023, both Howell and Zooey Zephyr, a transgender woman member of the Montana House of Representatives, were criticized on the floor by Republican majority leader Sue Vinton for speaking against legislation that would have prohibited gender-affirming medical and surgical care for transgender minors. Zephyr was subsequently barred from speaking after her comments. After protests in support of Zephyr on April 24, Howell publicly expressed support for Zephyr. In response to comparisons made by Republican House Speaker Matt Regier between Howell and Zephyr, Howell rejected the role of "barometer of the trans community", saying that "I will not be the ‘good’ trans person" compared to Zephyr. After a group of House Republicans demanded Zephyr be censured, the House introduced a motion to ban Zephyr from the floor and other parts of the Capitol under the control of the House.

Electoral history

Personal life

Howell is

and uses they/them pronouns.

References

External links