End LGBTQ+ Discrimination in MO, Pass MONA

I urge you to support SB787 (Razer) and HB2478 (Aune), the Missouri Nondiscrimination Act (MONA), which seeks to update the existing Human Rights Statute to include sexual orientation and gender identity. This bill would protect LGBTQ+ Missourians equally under the current law. MONA would ensure that more than 180,000 LGBTQ+ Missourians (in EVERY single county and district in Missouri) will be protected from being refused employment, housing, and public services just for who they are or who they love. 1 in 7 Missourians have faced an adverse job reaction because they are LGBTQ+, according to a 2013 report by Missouri Foundation for Health. Nobody should have to live in fear of being fired from their job for reasons that have nothing to do with their job performance. LGBTQ+ people face significant levels of discrimination in housing, which can take a variety of forms like being denied, charged higher rates for, or removed from housing, being denied housing loans or rental contracts, and being denied entrance to retirement homes, assisted living, nursing care, hospice, and other vital resources (that older LGBTQ+ Missourians need too). In cities and states across the country LGBTQ+ people can be turned away from a restaurant, denied service at a hospital, or kicked off of public transportation simply for being who they are. “Public accommodations” includes all the public places we conduct our lives when we aren't at home, school, or work. This is especially true for the majority (53%) of transgender people who faced harassment or disrespect in public accommodations, according to one study by the National Center for Transgender Equality. Please support SB787 and HB2478 and protect LGBTQ+ Missourians equally under the law.