Speakers packed a Missouri Capitol hearing room Monday evening to testify on several bills seeking to make laws restricting transgender rights for minors permanent.
The bills focus on gender-affirming care for minors and transgender youth participating in sports. The current laws have sunshine provisions that would cause them to expire in a few years, and the bills' sponsors want to remove those.
A group of four bills focused on care including puberty blockers and hormone therapy were discussed first, with testimony continuing for more than two hours.
Representative Brian Seitz (R-Branson) sponsored one of the bills. He says his goal is to protect children.
"We love these children so much that we want to protect them," Seitz said. "This legislation does that."
In response to an inquiry from Representative Elizabeth Fuchs (D-St. Louis), Seitz rejected the idea of gender-affirming care, saying "a boy is a boy and a girl is a girl."
Representative Emily Weber (D-Kansas City) opposes the bill and said the expiration dates were put in place to allow the legislature to reconsider the issue after further research is conducted.
Kenneth Haller, a retired pediatrician, testified against the four bills regarding restricting care.
He shared experiences of patients who were satisfied with their treatment, and emphasized that there is a long process before a minor can begin to receive gender-affirming care.
"When it comes to patients who are trans, when it comes to our community members who are trans, if they say they’re trans – I may not get it," Haller said. "But I have to get that they get it, and do what I can to help them live their life."
