The son of Republican Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte said they asked their father to veto three bills concerning transgender and LGBTQ rights in a meeting at the governor’s office last month, according to a new report.

David Gianforte, who told the Montana Free Press they identify as nonbinary and use the pronouns he and they, said the meeting came together after they wrote an email to their father pleading with him to use his power to stop three pieces of legislation coming to his desk for signature.

The governor seemed open to his son, replying: “I would like to better understand your thoughts and concerns. When can we get together to talk about it?”

The bills in question are House Bill 359, which sets to ban drag performances in public places, Senate Bill 99, which bans gender-affirming care for transgender minors, and Senate Bill 458, which states “there are exactly two sexes, male and female, with two corresponding gametes.”

So far, only SB 99 has made it to the governor’s desk. Gianforte has indicated his support, but hasn’t signed it into law.

In the March 27 meeting, also attended by the governor’s health adviser, David Gianforte said those bills would negatively impact many of their friends.

“I would like to make the argument that these bills are immoral, unjust, and frankly a violation of human rights,” David Gianforte said in a statement read to the governor and shared with the Montana Free Press.

Gov. Gianforte’s office won’t “discuss private conversations between the governor and members of his family,” press secretary Brooke Stroyke told the outlet.

Republicans have been intensifying attacks on LGBTQ+ and trans rights as the 2024 presidential campaign begins. About 500 anti-trans bills have been introduced in almost every state in the country this year.

Montana Republicans on Wednesday voted to censure Democratic state Rep. Zooey Zephyr, one of the state’s first transgender lawmakers, after she spoke out against SB 99.

David Gianforte said they felt a responsibility to speak up, even if it doesn’t change the outcome of the bills.

“I feel like I have a voice and I can be heard,” they told the Montana Free Press Tuesday. “And I feel, not only in communicating with my father, that’s not necessarily the main point, but also just showing support for the transgender community in Montana.”

The governor made national headlines in 2017 after he body-slammed a Guardian reporter on the eve of the special election that put him in the governor’s office.

You can read the full Montana Free Press article here.