MO: Another Ugly Anti-LGBTQ Bill

Missouri House Bill 1739 was prefiled earlier this month. Another "Parental Rights" bill, it has some of the most heavy-handed features found in such bills. It's an ugly, nasty piece of legislation.

Some of the standards are here. There's a bunch of transparency language, allowing parents the right to inspect materials and even make copies, unless there are copyrights involved, because while we aren't concerned about professional rights of teachers or personal rights of children, we wouldn't dream of infringing on the rights of the corporations that produce instructional materials. 

There's boneheaded language like this:

No nurse, counselor, teacher, principal, contracted personnel, or other administrative official at a public elementary or secondary school or public charter school shall encourage a student under eighteen years of age to adopt a gender identity or sexual orientation.

Of course, traditional heterosexual is a gender identity and sexual orientation; the definitions offered in the bill even recognize this. So, for instance, this bill would make it illegal for the school to sell "couples" tickets to dances--particularly if it also had a requirement that couples tickets are only for boy-girl couples (as identified at birth, of course). Gender-specific bathrooms would also be illegal. And any reading materials that portrayed any gender identities at all. In fact, the law defines "sexual identity" 

[O]ne's actual or perceived emotional or physical attraction to, or romantic or physical relationships with, members of the same gender, members of a different gender, or members of any gender; or the lack of any emotional or physical attraction to, or romantic or physical relationships with, anyone.

In other words, you may have been thinking, "Good lord! This means that schools could only model persons with no romantic interest in anyone at all, but that is also a sexual identity under this law, meaning it is literally impossible to comply with it as written. 

There's the popular No Nicknames clause. Sorry, Robert, but I can't call you "Bob" without a note from your parents.

Then we get to the ugly stuff.

If a student approaches a school official to express discomfort or confusion about the student's documented identity, the school official shall notify the student's parent of the discussion within twenty-four hours.

Same rule if a student asks for different pronouns. 24 hours to notify the parent. No exceptions provided for students who have reason to believe that such a revelation might make them unsafe at home. The student has no agency, no choice, no rights. So we can expect the student to exercise the only agency they have left--to not tell anyone, but to stay isolated. 

These mandatory outing laws will not stop LGBTQ students from being LGBTQ. What they will do is transform school into one more unsafe space for the students who already lack sage spaces. LGBTQ students are more at risk for suicide and homelessness. Mandatory outing laws will not make these students safer. 

The bill doesn't skimp on the penalty phase, either. 

A teacher who is found to have violated any of this will have their license suspended or revoked. A school official found in violation will be immediately terminated and will be ineligible to work in any school for four years. 

The Attorney General can bring civil action against a school or school district. Any parent can bring civil action against the school or school district for violation of any part of the law. 

So if the student is not already afraid of being outed, teachers and staff will also be strongly motivated to never get involved in any difficult conversation. "Mrs. Kindface, I just have to talk to somebody about these feelings I--" "Stop right there, Robert! Are you trying to get me fired?? Hush up and go away." 

The bill comes courtesy of Doug Richey, a three term GOP representative who has run unopposed in his last two elections. He's a Baptist pastor, veteran, and law enforcement chaplain. He once proposed a bill that would let churches disclose credible allegations of sexual abuse without being sued. He once proposed a bill to stamp out DEI programs. And critical race theory in schools. And an earlier version of something called a Parental Rights Bill. Yes, he's that guy. And he's the chair of the damned Joint Committee on Education. Alao, he's running for a Missouri Senate seat, about which he has this to say:

I was born into a Christian, blue-collar family that raised me in a small town. I know my roots. I know, and am deeply convicted by, our shared values and principles. To me, political involvement isn’t my identity, it’s a stewardship responsibility in the effort to preserve our constitutional liberties and to hold government accountable to its purpose. I stand ready to serve the folks of this district.

Well, some of the folks. Not the LGBTQ ones. And not the youth and children. But then, they don't vote.

The bill is prefiled for the 2024 regular session. Here's hoping that it does not successfully make the journey to becoming a law.