The Missouri House has passed a bill that aims to remove the expiration date on the state’s current trans athlete ban. If passed in the Senate, this bill would make the ban permanent.
In 2023, the Missouri legislature passed a law, HB 1663, that bans transgender athletes from competing in school sports according to the self-identified gender.
Though the House had voted 109-49 on the bill, Democrats in the Senate filibustered it, leading to a compromise that added a four-year expiration date, also known as a sunset clause.
Each year since the law was passed, legislators have filed bills seeking to scrap the sunset.
During Monday’s debate, House Democrats argued not enough time has passed to consider research on transgender athletes and determine whether restrictions were fair.
Prior to H-B 16-63, the Missouri State High School Activity Association’s policy allowed transgender athletes that have been taking hormone-suppression medication for at least one year to compete according to their gender identity, opening the door for 12 transgender athletes to try out for school athletics from 2012 to 2022.
Now, the House passage of this bill restricting that access has sparked concern among LGBTQ+ advocacy groups and education associations across the state.
Mel Constantine Miseo is a board member for The Center Project in Columbia, and she said the bill will isolate students if signed into law.
“All this bill does is ostracize them and other them within their classmates and their schools, when students just want to have fun and build teammate skills and make friends, and this bill just prevents them from doing that for really no reason,” Miseo said.
Democratic Representative Doug Clemens of District 72, who opposed the bill, shared a similar sentiment in a press release from PROMO Missouri.
“We have to protect children, and part of protecting children is acknowledging who and what they are,” Clemens wrote in the release.
For education associations that prioritize maintaining equity for students, the bill presents a question of whether it actually accomplishes that.
Noelle Gilzow is the president of Columbia Missouri National Education Association and she said though the legislation may not have a large, logistical impact, its intent will.
“I think this is gonna be not as impactful in terms of policy because of the number of transgender athletes, as much as it is a threat to the wellbeing of students that are transgender and the feeling that they are under attack,” Gilzow said.
The bill is now with the Missouri Senate, and if passed there, the ban restricting transgender athlete participation will be permanent.
