A Missouri bill was introduced to the House Thursday, March 29, that could charge teachers and counselors who support students’ social transitions with a felony.
Under House Bill 2885, the staff member would be registered as a sex offender, making it the first anti-trans bill proposed that would make it a sex crime to affirm a young person’s gender.
Social transitioning is defined by actions such as being addressed by a different name or different pronouns. These first steps to becoming and feeling accepted and comfortable are crucial to a trans kid’s mental health.
Jamie Gragg, the Republican state representative who proposed the bill, told the KY3 news outlet, “This is to put the social learning development of our children back in the hands of the parents.”
The bill would convict a teacher or counselor of a class E felony. In Missouri, a person charged with a class E felony could face a maximum of four years in prison or a $10,000 fine.
On top of this, the teacher or counselor would be placed on Missouri’s state sexual offender registry as a Tier 1 offender. The tier currently includes people convicted of charges like non-penetrating sexual content, possession of child pornography, voyeurism of an unwilling victim and public indecency. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, which maintains the registry, Tier 1 offenders have a 15-year registration requirement.
We do not support this bill because it will endanger our teachers as well as kids transitioning.
Over the last several years, MHS community has focused on inclusion and acceptance through the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee’s work and teachers’ willingness to implement it in the classroom. For example, there is a giant poster in the Commons with “inclusion” displayed on it.
The bill could even be extended to prohibit having any LGBTQ+ posters or flags hanging in a classroom.
The proposed bill is just one of many that have been introduced with the intent to harm trans youth in the state of Missouri. Last September, the WashU Transgender Center abruptly closed after a law went into effect in June that prevents trans youth from receiving gender-affirming healthcare.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, there are currently 35 bills that the Missouri Legislature is considering that would harm the LGBTQ+ community.
Once again, the transgender community is under attack, and it must come to an end.
