Transgender Rights

PrideFest 2023 will include hundreds of vendors, a large parade and a performance by Idina Menzel. It’s also a chance for LGBTQ people to come together after a wave of legislation targeting them.

One bill restricts transgender youth under 18 from accessing certain forms of gender-affirming health care, while the other bill stops transgender athletes from participating in sport teams that align with their gender identity.

The executive order is in response to legislation that limits gender-affirming health care and participation in sports for transgender youth and young adults.

Even after the demise of emergency rules restricting gender-affirming care for adults, transgender Missourians don’t believe the push for curbs is over.

Republican lawmakers have become laser focused on legislation affecting transgender Missourians. That reality is pushing some to flee with their families or send transgender teenagers to out-of-state universities. "There's no point in staying," one mother said. "I consider it dangerous here."

Advocates for transgender people say they can’t completely celebrate Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey's withdrawal of a rule limiting gender-affirming care because Gov. Mike Parson is expected to sign a bill that limits such care for minors into law.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey terminated a rule that would have placed restrictions on which transgender patients could obtain hormones and other gender-affirming treatment. Bailey said the rule is no longer necessary because the Republican-controlled legislature has passed its own restrictions.

Both parties tout increased spending in the state budget on roads and education as major successes.

Lawmakers spent less than an hour discussing both bills, with Republicans voting to end debate twice.

The Kansas City Democrat serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee and has been working on legislation to assist day cares throughout Missouri.