COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri Republican lawmakers have pre-filed more than 20 bills aimed at restricting LGBTQ rights ahead of the 2024 legislative session, which begins next month.
For Kale Marie Michael, a 22-year-old transgender woman from Kansas City, it feels like her community is always under attack.
“I’m terrified honestly,” she said in a phone call. “A lot of people in my community, I can see that they’re worried and I can see that they’re struggling.”
The legislation is a sign that conservatives targeting LGBTQ issues are emboldened and will look to build upon last session, when lawmakers passed legislation banning gender-affirming care for minors and barring transgender athletes from playing in sports that match their gender identity.
“The single common theme that’s happening right now is the legislature is attacking LGBTQ+ people and their very ability to exist,” said Robert Fischer, a spokesperson for PROMO Missouri, an LGBTQ advocacy group that is tracking the legislation.
Fischer pointed to the fact that 2024 is an election year in which “everyone’s trying to get their soundbite together for their campaign.”
One target for lawmakers appears to be removing the expiration date from the gender-affirming care ban and a grandfather clause that allowed minors to continue hormone therapy or puberty blockers if they were already prescribed them — even as many clinics across the state have already stopped providing this care to minors.
At least twobills filed this year in the state Senate seek to remove the 2027 expiration date, which would allow the state to enact a permanent ban on both forms of gender-affirming care for minors. Another bill filed in the state House would remove both the expiration date and the grandfather clause.
State Sen. Denny Hoskins, a Warrensburg Republican who pre-filed a version of the bill that would remove the expiration date, said in a text to The Kansas City Star that the legislation aims to “protect innocent Missouri children from harmful hormone treatments and puberty blockers.”
The original gender-affirming care ban “should never have had a 4-year sunset, as these horrific treatments are child abuse now, and will still be considered child abuse when the sunset ends,” said Hoskins, who is running for secretary of state in 2024.
Another focus for some Republicans will be blocking or controlling discussions of LGBTQ issues and sexuality in the classroom. Legislation filed by state Sen. Rick Brattin, a Harrisonville Republican, for example, would ban classroom discussions on gender identity or sexual orientation for students in kindergarten through third grade.
Brattin’s bill appears similar to Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” law that was enacted last year. Opponents have said this type of legislation creates a chilling effect on teachers and LGBTQ students, barring kids from mentioning their LGBTQ family members and loved ones.
Brattin did not respond to a call and request for comment.
Another classroom-related bill, from state Rep. Hardy Billington, a Poplar Bluff Republican, would ban school employees from using transgender and nonbinary students’ preferred pronouns unless the employee has written permission from the student’s parent. It also would ban schools from requiring employees to use a student’s preferred pronoun if it’s contrary to the employee’s “religious or moral convictions.”
Other bills attempt to restrict drag shows or performances, including a bill from Brattin that would ban children from drag shows. Violators of Brattin’s bill would be guilty of a misdemeanor while subsequent violators could be charged with a felony.
Hoskins, in a text to a reporter, pushed back on the idea that Republicans were proposing anti-LGBTQ legislation.
“These bills are pro-kids, not anti-anything,” he said.
During a press briefing on Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that more than 600 anti-LGBTQ bills were filed in statehouses across the country last session, a figure she described as “sadly a historic number.”
“We’re concerned when any community is under attack,” she said. “What the president is going to continue to do from here — he’s going to make sure that we work to advance equality for the LGBTQ+ community and protect civil rights, which is something that he’s done.”
Jean-Pierre said Biden will continue to ask lawmakers to pass the Equality Act, which would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation and gender identity. She also said the Department of Justice “has worked towards challenging these state laws,” adding that Biden’s administration is “going to continue to fight on behalf of this community.”
Transgender health care
The bills seeking to expand the ban on gender-affirming care were filed by Republicans Hoskins, Brattin and state Rep. Brad Hudson from Cape Fair, who were part of the sustained push against transgender health care for minors last session.
Another bill from Hudson would prevent doctors and health care providers from being sued for refusing to provide gender-affirming care to patients.
During several points in the last legislative session, Missouri lawmakers had filed the most anti-LGBTQ bills of any state. While much of the debate centered on gender reassignment surgery, which is relatively rare for minors, the bills went a step further and included hormone therapy and puberty blockers.
Republican Gov. Mike Parson signed the two pieces of legislation behind closed doors during Pride Month in June. The grandfather clause and the expiration date in the gender-affirming care ban were viewed as concessions to Democrats, who had spent hours filibustering against the bill.
The ban on gender-affirming care was part of a nationwide push to regulate the lives of transgender people and stoked fear in Missouri’s transgender community — prompting some to consider fleeing the state.
While the law allowed minors to continue treatments if they were already prescribed them, some providers, such as University of Missouri Health Care, stopped providing the treatment altogether due to fear of legal consequences.
The University of Missouri faces a lawsuit filed last month from two transgender boys over the decision to stop providing gender-affirming care for minors.
Classroom discussions
Advocates are expecting bills seeking to limit classroom discussions on LGBTQ issues and restrictions on students to be a major focus in the coming year.
“They’re really trying to dig into a very simplistic, common courtesy that everyone has, like using correct pronouns, using correct names,” Fischer from PROMO said, referring to the bill banning the use of student pronouns.
“They’re really trying to attack people on a very human level and make it difficult for someone to just do everyday things.”
Fischer also pointed to another bill from Hudson that purports to ban colleges from “discriminating against a religious student association.” However, Fischer said this bill is written in a way that would allow religious associations to discriminate against LGBTQ students who wish to join.
Hudson did not return a call for comment.
Another bill from state Rep. Mazzie Christensen, a Hamilton Republican, would allow the state to cut funding from libraries “that offer obscene materials to children.” The bill appears to build on a similarly worded rule from Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, a Republican candidate for governor in 2024, that went into effect in May.
“These bills are about protecting children, and the fact that anyone would oppose these common-sense measures is absolutely disturbing,” Christensen said in a statement.
Christensen’s bill and Ashcroft’s rule come as some parents have also attempted to remove several school library books they call pornographic, ranging from classics such as Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse-Five” and Margaret Atwood’s bestselling “The Handmaid’s Tale,” to books with LGBTQ themes, including “Flamer” by Mike Curato and “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson.
Fischer said it’s too early to tell which anti-LGBTQ bills Republicans plan to focus on in the coming year but the number of bills that have been pre-filed before the session starts is “intense.”
For Michael, the transgender woman from Kansas City, it’s concerning that Missouri lawmakers are proposing more and more anti-LGBTQ pieces of legislation each year.
“I’m definitely scared,” she said. “But still willing to fight against these kinds of things.”
