JEFFERSON CITY — Senators came to agreement early Tuesday on a compromise on a bill limiting transgender rights.
The agreement followed a high-energy rally Monday by bill supporters in the Capitol rotunda.
The rally with attendance upwards of 150 people drew a wide range of speakers expressing support for various bills restricting gender-affirming care for transgender youth.
The “Missouri Kids FIRST Rally,” organized by the Missouri Freedom Foundation PAC, filled the rotunda with Missourians, legislators and elected state officals who support a bill from Sen. Mike Moon, R-Ash Grove, also known as the “Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act.”
The rally took place in the hours before the Senate returned to session at 4 p.m.
Senate Floor Leader Cindy O’Laughlin, R-Shelbina, adjourned the Senate a day early on March 8 as Senate Democrats filibustered against the bill, which would ban gender affirming medical procedures for minors such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries.
O’Laughlin had been working behind the scenes with a number of senators to craft a compromise that would allow passage of the bill.
Following O’Laughlin’s adjournment, eight Republican senators signed a statement with their intent to push Moon’s legislation through the Senate once they returned from spring break using “whatever tools and procedures necessary.” The signees were Moon; Nick Schroer, R-O’Fallon; Jill Carter, R-Granby; Ben Brown, R-Washington; Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring; Denny Hoskins, R-Warrensburg; Andrew Koenig, R-Manchester and Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville.
“This isn’t anti-anything. It’s pro children,” said Jodi Grace, one of the organizers of the rally. “If I thought this was anti-trans, I wouldn’t have invited them here today.”
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft as well as other speakers repeatedly called these procedures and hormonal therapy “chemical castration.”
In the rotunda, signs were distributed with the phrases, “Kids First,” “No Drugs” and “Yes Now.” Among the speakers were legislators who have been outspoken in favor of legislation to restrict gender-affirming health care for minors: Hoskins, Eigel, Carter and Rep. Brian Seitz, R-Branson. They reiterated their
Catherine Dreher, vice chair of the Missouri Libertarian Party, said that “sex reassignment surgeries for children as child abuse because no child could possibly consent.”
Former Sen. Bob Onder called out Senate and House leadership to act on this legislation: “If you don’t protect kids, we have no use for you.”
A common message among speakers was disappointment in the handling of the investigation of Washington University’s transgender center.
Earlier Monday, Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced that gender affirming care for transgender minors will be subject to increased regulations for the next 180 days.
The regulations formulated and announced Monday by Bailey include additional requirements for informed consent and restrictions on who is allowed to access gender affirming care.
Bailey said in a statement that the regulations are allowed under “existing Missouri law governing unfair, deceptive, and unconscionable business practices, including in administering health care services.”
Throughout the statement, he referred to gender affirming care, such as puberty
The statement emphasized the risks for using puberty blockers, including a report by the Food and Drug Administration that warns of risks for brain swelling as a result of these medications. That warning was based on six patients who were taking puberty blockers, and only one patient was taking the medication for gender affirming care.
Bailey is placing additional limits on gender affirming care, including a required 18 months of psychological evaluation before a patient is allowed to receive care. Patients also must be assessed for autism spectrum disorder, and providers must ensure that all previous mental health conditions in a patient have been treated.
Robert Fischer, director of communication for PROMO Missouri — an LBGTQ advocacy group, responded in a statement: “It is clear his office does not respect the professional guidelines of every major medical association in our country, who agrees gender-affirming health care is the standard of care for transgender Missourians.”
Between 10 and 20 people attended the rally as counter-protesters. Some donned protective padding and face masks, while others wore transgender pride flags as capes. They demonstrated their opposition to the bills by booing speakers, showing “thumbs down” and wearing LGBTQ patches. Eigel labelled them “antifa.”
Supporters of the SAFE Act moved from the rally to fill the Senate gallery to put pressure on the senators but had mostly emptied out before 7 p.m. as the filibuster by Democrats droned on through the night.
Rather than bringing up Moon’s bill, Senate leadership took up SB 39 from Sen. Holly Thompson Rehder, R-Sikeston, which would separate athletics on the basis of gender. Both Democratic and Republican senators spoke at length on the floor while amendments were being worked on to add the SAFE Act to Rehder’s bill.
Other states such as Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Utah, West Virginia, Florida and Mississippi have recently passed bans on gender affirming health care for transgender youth.
Hoskins said these other states had no trouble passing the SAFE Act with “no compromise,” shaming the Missouri legislature for its trouble in passing the act.
“I’m not afraid of a small group of misguided Democratic senators,” said Eigel. “And I’m not afraid to stay up all night … I’m tired of hearing about other states doing the right thing.”
Democrats like Sen. Tracy McCreery, D-Olivette, cited mental health as a reason for opposing this legislation.
“You can’t be physically healthy without being mentally healthy and you can’t be mentally healthy without having your physical health as well,” said McCreery. She said that there were other pieces of legislation that she considers more important in protecting children, such as addressing food insecurity or making college tuition more affordable.
Jamie Holcomb contributed to this report.