Political attack on trans kids scares Missouri families. It’s bad for business, too

After the most recent debate in the Missouri House of Representatives on legislation targeting transgender children in our state, one parent posted on social media: “We’re having the same conversations at night here in Missouri that my cousins had in Germany in the ‘20s. When do we flee? Where do we go? Is the next state over far enough?”

It may sound hyperbolic, yet these are real conversations happening among parents in our great state. And they are brutal.

As a lawmaker on the front lines of combating extremist bills, these families speak with me often. I get texts late at night from teens thanking me for trying. Mostly, it is because they are scared and they need someone in a position of power to tell them they are OK.

This is my sixth year in the General Assembly. No one can really prepare you for what serving in the legislature is like, but what always surprises me is how each year the politics of it all get worse. Each year, there is scandal and polarizing bills are used for talking points, but this year is different. It is a redistricting year, meaning lots of conservative Republicans are now running against one another. Primaries are getting nasty. And the numbers don’t lie: To win a Republican primary, you must be more extreme than your own party. We are seeing this more than ever — except this time, it is at the expense of children.

We have an opportunity this year to do some serious good for our state, with record amounts of money to invest. We could be fixing our crumbling infrastructure, paying teachers more, helping workers with skills training and assisting employers experiencing labor shortages by providing things such as day care. We can finally invest in broadband. The list goes on and on. But instead of solving problems, we spend hours fighting about issues that are not real.

The debate around trans youth is the political wedge issue of 2022, just as protests over immigration, gay marriage and even interracial marriage have been in years past. It is new for a lot of folks. It may be confusing, and what is confusing is often scary. But instead of taking time to study peer-reviewed research, or talking with families and doctors who are working in this field of medicine and truly understand it, lawmakers are reacting. They are reacting to win elections.

There are record numbers of anti-LGBTQ bills filed across this county, as many as 240. Some restrict LGBTQ subjects in school curricula or allow for religious exemptions to discriminate. Several limit trans kids’ ability to play sports, use bathrooms or receive gender-affirming health care. In Missouri, we have seen a prominent LGBTQ history exhibit removed from the Capitol.

But the policy proposals getting the most attention are those to keep kids from playing sports or obtaining lifesaving medical care. These topics are nuanced. There is a great deal of science and research involved in these decisions, which should be made by doctors, parents and the kiddos.

When we legislators don’t fully understand a topic, we should err on the side of caution before making any laws about it — just as Republican governors from Utah and Indiana have done by vetoing bills in their states going after transgender kids.

We should be leading with compassion and empathy. We should be making laws to bring revenue to our state and help our economy, while focusing our time on things that benefit Missouri — not issues that make our families so afraid for their lives that they want to leave. When we have the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and the NAACP coming together asking us to drop this issue, we should pay attention. Instead, we are discussing legislation that has our parents panicking, and businesses and sports competitions alike avoiding us.

Tearing down vulnerable children will not help our state, but it’s devastating for the kids. In the final days of this year’s legislative session, I’m hopeful that enough Republicans of good conscience will join with Democrats to form a majority and stop these unnecessary and damaging laws.