evidence: HELENA, Mont. — Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte is defending the state health department’s actions in an active child protective case against a wave of online criticism from conservative groups, including some far-right, anti-LGBTQ social media accounts, an unusually public commentary from the state’s highest elected official about confidential child welfare proceedings. In a series of Monday afternoon posts on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Gianforte responded to direct call-outs from prominent anti-transgender commenters who alleged that the state’s child welfare division had "kidnapped" a Glasgow teenager last fall and sidestepped the state’s new law against minors receiving gender-affirming care in Montana by allowing the youth to seek those services in another state. [...] The video has fueled media attention and sparked criticism of the state’s actions by the parents’ supporters, with some calling for an explanation and intervention from the state’s Republican governor, who signed a law last year curbing gender-affirming medical access for transgender minors. In his Monday posts on X, Gianforte confirmed that his office has reviewed the matter and, without describing the case in detail, said the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, or DPHHS, acted correctly in taking the child into protective custody.