Two laws that prohibit children from receiving gender-affirming medical care and prohibit transgender girls and women from playing on female sports teams have been approved by Missouri lawmakers.
Missouri Bans Gender-Affirming Health Care for Minors and Transgender Girls from Female Sports Teams
According to the shared article in Yahoo! News, a bill that would deny transgender youngsters access to hormones, gender-affirming surgery, and puberty blockers was approved by the Republican-led House. Some adults will also be impacted by the restriction because surgery won't be provided to prisons and inmates, and Medicaid health care in the state no longer covers gender-affirming care.
Another bill prohibits transgender athletes from participating on girls' and women's teams in both public and private schools from kindergarten through college. State money will be taken away from schools that allow transgender girls and women to play on these teams. Both laws, which will expire in 2027 as a result of compromises made during discussions between Republicans and Senate Democrats, are anticipated to be signed by Republican Governor Mike Parson. These actions, according to critics, amount to the "weaponization of the government."
This topic, along with abortion, has grown in importance in state legislative sessions this year. In the article in ABC News, the ban on gender-affirming care, which would go into effect on August 28, includes exclusions for youngsters already getting such treatments. Republican Rep. Brad Hudson said that the government should interfere in circumstances where children are being "surgically and or chemically altered for life."
As a result of the majority of his Republican colleagues voting for the measures without allowing him to speak against them, openly gay State Rep. Chris Sander is considering leaving the party. Being homosexual or transgender, Sander maintained, is not a partisan issue, and he accused his colleagues of making it one by playing party politics.
Kansas City Set to Defy Missouri's Transgender Bans, Plans to Become a Sanctuary City
Kansas City is getting ready to reject these rulings made at the state level. According to Buffalo News, the City Council is debating a resolution that would declare Kansas City a safe haven for anyone who needs or offer gender-affirming care.
The resolution has the potential for state reprisal, but council member Melissa Robinson said that she believes in good trouble, and this move might might be one of those lines with the good trouble. She also acknowledged the possibility of punishment from the state.
The resolution suggests that the city refrain from prosecuting or fining anyone who seeks, offers, receives, or helps someone receive care that promotes gender identity, such as hormones, surgery, or hormone blockers. The document also advises city employees to make gender-affirming care ban enforcement their "lowest priority."
The entire council will adopt the resolution on Thursday. Merrique Jenson, a transgender woman and head of a nonprofit organization that supports trans women of color, praised the move and said it might "minimize the legal violence toward trans people in accessing gender-affirming care."
Related Article: Attorney General of Missouri Imposes Emergency Order Limiting Gender-Affirming Treatments
