Gay-rights supporter Matthew “Skippy” Mauldin holds a flag during rally outside the Capitol Thursday, March 31, 2016, in Jefferson City, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
If a newly-introduced bill passes in Missouri, state teachers and school counselors could face felony charges and possible jail time — and placement on the state’s sex offender registry — if they are found to help anyone under 18 years old to “socially transition” to a gender other than what they were assigned at birth, including helping someone change their pronouns, or even their haircut.
Known as House Bill 2885, the legislation introduced by Republican Rep. Jamie Gragg makes it a class E felony for a teacher or school counselor to “provide support, regardless of whether the support is material, information, or other resources to a child regarding social transition.”
A child is defined as anyone under 18, and “social transition,” according to the bill, is “the process by which an individual adopts the name, pronouns, and gender expression, such as clothing or haircuts, that match the individual’s gender identity and not the gender assumed by the individual’s sex at birth.”
If convicted, a teacher or counselor could face up to four years in prison or a fine of $10,000. They would also be required to register as a sexual offender under Missouri law.
As a review on Wednesday of the Missouri House legislature docket reveals, the bill has only been read out twice, once when it was first introduced on Feb. 29 and again on March 1. It must go through committee hearings where those who oppose the legislation will have a chance to lodge objections. Amendments can also be made at this time. Then the bill must go to the Missouri House floor for a full debate. A byzantine path to full passage follows, but with the right support from the Missouri Senate, its passage is not impossible.
Similar legislation has been mounting around the country and the American Civil Liberties Union is actively tracking their spread. As of Wednesday, there are 474 pieces of legislation in state houses coast to coast that target lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer individuals. Missouri alone has 35 similar pieces of legislation already in the works.
When the bill was first introduced, Gragg — who did not return a request for comment immediately Wednesday — told local NBC outlet KYTV that a final iteration of the bill could also include a ban on any books or signage in classrooms that mentions LGBT themes.
The National Library of Medicine released a study last year on social transition in transgender teens with a focus on those who had begun to transition at around 14 years old on average in Tenerife, Spain. Researchers determined that when minors had a positive response to their social transitioning, it boosted their quality of life across the board.
“Early social transition had positive and immediate benefits on child development as well as in the reduction of anxiety. There was a general improvement in mood, self-esteem, and social and family relationships. The accompaniment of specialists and associations helped in the different social situations and favoured resilience,” the report states.
The report also concluded: “Early social transition is positive in the personal and socio-family sphere of the minor. To improve their resilience, families demand accompaniment in this process, as well as meeting other trans people who serve as transpositive references. In addition, they point out the need for specific training in health professionals.”
But for Gragg, the legislation is a way to protect children.
He told KYTV he created the bill “to help parents and families and to help teachers.”
“I talk to parents every day who are frustrated with things that kids are being taught in school,” he said.
A representative from the school district where his constituents live did not immediately respond to inquiry Wednesday about how many complaints may or may not have been made in Christian County, Missouri.
The bill is also less than clear about who would do the enforcing; it was not clear, for example, whether the school district determines if a teacher aided someone to socially transition, or if the parent — or even another teacher — makes that call.
What is clear in the proposed bill at this stage is that teachers and counselors would be put on the same level of those people who commit heinous sexual abuses including rape and molestation.
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