Missouri hearing kicks off bitter Capitol clash over transgender rights, school curriculum

The seven students came up to the microphone one by one and gave their names and ages, ranging from 11 to 16.

They had taken the day off from school Tuesday to urge Missouri lawmakers to oppose Senate Bill 42, a sprawling bill that would ban the teaching of critical race theory and “divisive concepts,” while also clearing the way for school districts to ban transgender athletes from competing in girls’ sports.

Instead, the students were only allowed to give their name, age and school as an hour-long Missouri Senate hearing was cut off after adults spent much of it arguing.

“What’s next? Sen. Brattin’s going to identify as an 18-year-old male because that’s the way he feels?” Sen. Denny Hoskins, a Warrensburg Republican, said in one of the final exchanges of the hearing in the Senate Education and Workforce Development Committee.

He was referring to Rick Brattin, a Harrisonville Republican sponsoring the bill, mocking the idea of accommodating transgender athletes.

A few minutes earlier, Justice Horn, chair of the LGBTQ Commission of Kansas City, told senators they were “moving heaven and earth” over what is likely fewer than 10 transgender athletes in high school and college sports in the entire state. Both the Missouri State High School Activities Association, which governs high school sports, and the NCAA already have policies on transgender athletes, Horn said.

“No matter if you’re Democratic, Republican, urban, rural household – members of the LGBT community will always exist and continue to exist no matter what the environment is and what the setting is. And no amount of legislation is going to erase those people,” Horn said.

Sen. Andrew Koenig, a Manchester Republican who chairs the Senate Education and Workforce Development Committee, said the sports-related provisions of S.B. 42 wouldn’t be part of the bill when it advances out of committee – a concession to opponents as they confronted him at the end of the hearing, angry that testimony had been cut off.

But the concession was likely cold comfort to critics of the legislation because there is no shortage of other measures that include a ban. The committee voted along party lines Tuesday to send the S.B. 42 to the full Senate, but without the sports provision.

The tense gathering over Senate Bill 42 began a day of hearings over a series of bills targeting LGBTQ rights. The Missouri House General Laws Committee was scheduled to receive testimony on eight bills that would prohibit gender-related medical procedures for minors, ban transgender athletes from girls’ sports or restrict drag show performances.

The marathon day of hearings came as Missouri leads the nation in the number of anti-LGBTQ bills filed, according to the ACLU, which tracks legislation. A wave of bills have been introduced across the country, some modeled on or inspired by Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, but nowhere have the measures been more prevalent than in Missouri, which accounts for about 21% of all anti-LGBTQ bills filed nationwide.

“It’s just simply not fair for women to have to compete against men,” Koenig said, summing up the core argument advanced by proponents of the transgender sports ban.

But opponents warned the bill sends a dangerous message to LGBTQ youth and anyone who is different.

“It tells them you may be next. If the next hot political wedge issue is you, you’re next,” said Sen. Greg Razer, a Kansas Democrat who is gay.

S.B. 42 is an expansive public education measure that originally combined prohibitions against critical race theory — a college-level academic concept that examines the role of institutions in perpetuating racism – new curriculum transparency requirements and a path to banning transgender athletes from competing in school sports. While many elements of the proposal have been introduced before, the legislation combines them into one package.

The bill’s original text didn’t ban transgender athletes from participating in girls’ sports outright, but it would have allowed local school districts to hold a public vote on a ban. The Missouri attorney general would have the power to investigate alleged violations. Districts found in violation would have half their state aid withheld until they are brought into compliance.

The provisions — whether they are advanced as part of S.B. 42 or in another bill — could potentially lead to heated debates and campaigns in districts across the state, with supporters and opponents of transgender athletes participating in girls’ sports competing for votes.

The bill also prohibits the teaching of the New York Times 1619 Project, which cast slavery as central to the narrative of the United States’ founding, as well as critical race theory and “divisive concepts.” Critical race theory isn’t defined in the bill.

But “divisive concepts” is defined, in part, as promoting “any form of race or sex scapegoating, including assigning fault, blame, or conscious or unconscious bias to one or more members of a race or sex and including claims that, consciously or unconsciously, any person is inherently racist, sexist, or inclined to oppress others by virtue of their race or sex.”

The state attorney general would be allowed to investigate alleged violations, with 50% of state aid withheld from districts found in violation. A similar Florida law was cited this month by Gov. Ron DeSantis to block schools from offering Advanced Placement African American history classes.

The legislation would require schools to list on their website all instructional materials, as well as training materials for schools.

One person testified in favor of the bill: James Harris, a lobbyist representing the Florida-based Opportunity Solutions Project, a conservative think tank that serves as a lobbying arm of the Foundation for Government Accountability.

“There’s a lot of questionable things transpiring in our public schools and it’s important because there’s more than 884,000 kids in our public schools,” Harris said of the need for the curriculum-related provisions.

Harris said Columbia school students had been taken to a diversity event last week that included drag performers – referring to a controversy that has erupted among Missouri Republicans in recent days. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and Attorney General Andrew Bailey have both criticized the event.

Schools should focus on increasing the academic performance of students, pointing to falling test scores in the wake of the pandemic, Harris said.

Sen. Lauren Arthur, a Kansas City Democrat, noted that S.B. 42 calls for students to be taught to “actively listen and engage in civil discourse, including discourse with those with different viewpoints” while at the same time banning the 1619 Project.

“I’m curious why we want to encourage critical thinking but we want to limit what they’re able to interact with,” Arthur said.

The focus on critical race theory and curriculum transparency comes after former Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, now a Republican U.S. senator, targeted instruction in schools across the state.

In June, Schmitt announced he was investigating Lee’s Summit R-7 School District and Park Hill School District, among others, over allegations that students were asked to complete surveys about their parents’ political beliefs. Schmitt in 2021 sued Springfield schools, alleging the district violated the Missouri Sunshine Law in responding to requests for materials Schmitt sought related to critical race theory.

The Star’s Maia Bond contributed reporting