Missouri Democrats block vote on transgender care ban, force MO Senate to adjourn early

After Missouri Senate Democrats spent more than five hours filibustering a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for minors, the GOP-controlled Senate on Wednesday delayed a vote on the bill and adjourned for more than a week.

The Senate will return later this month after a scheduled spring break. The decision to adjourn by party leaders caused confusion among rank and file Republicans.

“It was not anything that we discussed in our caucus meeting,” state Sen. Denny Hoskins, a Warrensburg Republican, told The Star after the decision to adjourn early. “I’m very frustrated. I want to see this bill get passed.”

The surprise adjournment was a victory for Senate Democrats who had spent two days vehemently opposing the bill on the floor. Senate Democrats were prepared to hold the floor late into the night.

The Democratic filibuster was spearheaded by state Sen. Greg Razer, Missouri’s only openly gay state senator.

“I would like to walk away where I feel like it’s not devastating to transgender kids in Missouri who are not understood,” said Razer, a Kansas City Democrat.

The Republican-led bill would ban all “gender transition procedures” for people under the age of 18 except for a few specific instances. Doctors who violate the restrictions could face professional discipline as well as lawsuits.

Daniel Bogard, a St. Louis rabbi and father of a young transgender boy, has traveled to Jefferson City to oppose the legislation. He told The Star last week that he views the Missouri Capitol as a place of hate and oppression. He said he wants lawmakers to leave kids alone.

“This is brutal, the toll that this is taking on us in terms of our mental health and spiritual health and emotional health,” he said. “This is trauma that’s being inflicted on us and it’s constant fear.”

Razer acknowledged that he expects Republicans to eventually pass a version of the bill banning gender-affirming care after lawmakers return to Jefferson City later this month. “I don’t want it to be devastating. And what ultimately they want is devastating.”

Senate Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin, a Shelbina Republican, made the motion to adjourn late Wednesday after meeting with Republicans for more than an hour behind closed doors. In that meeting, some more hard-right Republicans said they wanted to push forward on the bill.

Several hard-right Republicans, including Hoskins and bill sponsor state Sen. Mike Moon, an Ash Grove Republican, scheduled a press conference after the Senate adjourned but canceled after they learned leadership was not coming.

O’Laughlin’s office said she was not available to talk on Wednesday. Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden, a Columbia Republican, did not return a call for comment.

The Missouri bill is part of an onslaught of legislation nationally that targets procedures that assist minors in transitioning genders. LGBTQ rights advocates have said the legislation targets both transgender kids and doctors. They say Republicans have embarked on a sustained attack on the LGBTQ community.

Wednesday was the second day in a row that Democrats filibustered Moon’s bill. On Tuesday, Democrats delayed a vote on the bill by tying up floor action for the majority of the afternoon.

Democrats said they were holding the floor to encourage negotiations over the legislation.

“Even though the bill isn’t what I like or what you like or I think a lot of people in our caucus would like, the lines of communication have been open and remain open,” Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, an Independence Democrat, said on the floor Wednesday. “I believe we will try to work this out until we’re blue in the face.”

The chaotic scene in Jefferson City played out as Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office investigates a pediatric center in St. Louis that provides gender-affirming care to patients.

Bailey announced his investigation after a former employee alleged in an article and an affidavit that the center harmed children. However, several parents of patients who spoke with The Star have cast doubt on the allegations.

Razer told The Star that he didn’t view the Senate’s adjournment as a success.

“We wasted a day in the Missouri Senate when we could have been doing things that are positive for the people of Missouri,” he said. “Today was a sad day for the Missouri Senate.”