Stop the Attacks on Trans Youth in MO Sports

As your constituent, it’s important to me that you vote NO on SB 10 (Hough), HB 113 (Seitz), HB 624 (Cook), HB 36 (Billington), and SB 595 (Burger). These bills would make the bans on gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth and their participation in school sports permanent, stripping away critical protections and opportunities from young people across our state. I also urge you to oppose SB 55 (Coleman), which is a further attack on trans athletes in elementary, high school, AND colleges. The current law has sunset provisions to allow for further study and real input from impacted families, like mine. Removing these provisions is an extreme move that disregards my belief that medical decisions are each of our individual right and freedom to make with our families and the medical experts who support our care. We know that all youth, especially transgender youth, deserve the opportunity to play the sports they love, and experience the valuable lessons of being on a team with their peers, including teamwork, discipline, success, and failure. Failing to support transgender student athletes only perpetuates a culture of bias, and instigates an issue that doesn't exist. The lie that transgender youth are taking opportunities away from other youths, when in fact, they are also just boys and girls wanting to play sports and have fun. Transgender women are WOMEN. It's simple, and by excluding trans women from sports, you are indicating that they are a hypothetical threat, and ignoring the current documented harm against transgender women and girls. This has real impacts on the lives of human beings. I believe in fairness and freedom. And I voted for you to represent and uphold those freedoms, not cause undo harm to already marginalized kids. Locking in these bans without insisting on continued research and public input is irresponsible. Do the right thing and stand against this overreach — vote NO on all of these bills.