By Kathleen Shannon - Producer, Contact - News
Big Sky Connection - Many towns across Montana celebrated Pride this month, which comes on the heels of a legislative session that featured bills targeting LGBTQ+ people. An advocacy group published the fifth edition of its annual zine[ZEEN], highlighting art by artists from that community. Comments by Lyla Brown, central region senior organizing manager, Forward Montana.
Click on the image above for the audio. "The Sun Will Rise Again" is the fifth edition of Forward Montana's zine made by and for LGBTQ2S+ Montanans. (Forward Montana)
Kathleen Shannon
June 26, 2025 - As Pride month winds downs, a Montana group said the latest edition of its zine celebrating queer and transgender folks is still hot off the presses.
The fifth edition of Forward Montana's zine titled "The Sun Will Rise Again" contains poems, stories, photos and more made by and for LGBTQ+ and Two-Spirit Montanans. Zines are low-cost publications, often printed at home and are accessible to various creators.
Lyla Brown, central region senior organizing manager for Forward Montana, said the new edition was well-timed for Pride month and more.
"It also comes at the end of our Montana legislative session, where we saw a lot of attacks on queer and trans Montanans," Brown pointed out. "We wanted to center resilience and joy and strength of the queer and trans community that Montana does have."
Montana state lawmakers brought at least two dozen bills targeting trans people this session. In a lawsuit against the state over House Bill 121, which mandates specific bathroom use, a Missoula County District Court judge in May granted plaintiffs a preliminary injunction during the lifetime of the case, writing Montanans "will not be subject to the prying eyes of others or to governmental snooping or regulation."
Brown noted despite the legislation, many Montana communities celebrated Pride.
"We have seen a lot more smaller Prides popping up," Brown observed. "There's Pride in Libby and Anaconda and in Red Lodge, Montana, which are really small towns. I think people are so thrilled and so excited to be in community."
She added people interested in new or older editions of the zine can request copies from Forward Montana.
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