JEFFERSON CITY — A measure that would bar discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity received a public hearing in a Missouri Senate committee Wednesday, but, as in previous years, it has practically no chance of passage.
Testimony on the Missouri Nondiscrimination Act, which would outlaw discrimination against LGBTQ individuals in housing, employment and other areas, has become a near annual occurrence at the Capitol. And each year, lacking the support of the Republican supermajorities in the House and Senate, the legislation known as MONA fails.
But this year’s hearing held additional significance: Sen. Greg Razer, D-Kansas City, an openly gay state senator and outspoken LGBTQ-rights advocate who grew up in tiny Cooter, Missouri, is likely close to the end of his term in the Senate.
Razer last Friday was appointed by Republican Gov. Mike Parson to the State Tax Commission. The new job, which pays $130,000 annually, could begin as early as next week if the appointment wins Senate approval, at which point Razer’s time as a lawmaker would end.
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“This bill is not going to pass this year,†said Razer. But ensuring it received a public hearing was important, he said, so it remains in the public awareness and the arguments of its opponents are brought to light.
“The opposition is getting smaller and smaller and smaller, and sounding less and less rational,†Razer said.
At the hearing, opponents of the measure said it could allow employees to file frivolous discrimination lawsuits, creating burdensome legal fees for small businesses, and it would infringe on religious freedom.
The bill sets up a “host of conflicts†related to freedom of speech and religion, said Timothy Faber, a Baptist minister and former chair of the state’s Human Rights Commission. Faber resigned from the commission last December.
“I am left-handed. I have suffered numerous times in my life because I live in a right-handed world,†said Faber. “But I do not demand that left-handed people be included in the nondiscrimination law.â€
Faber’s presence led to brief but heated questioning by Sen. Doug Beck, D-Affton, who pointed out that Faber failed to identify himself as the chairman of the state Human Rights Commission when he testified against the same measure last year.
“I don’t know how we can believe anything you say,†Beck said. “You misrepresented yourself. You should be ashamed of what you’re all about.â€
Just four spoke against the measure, while 16 individuals and organizations recorded their support of the additional anti-discrimination language.
“I myself have sat in fear that I would be found out as a trans human in housing situations,†said Emilia Stauffer, of Springfield. “I would have felt a lot safer knowing that the government had my back.â€
Razer told the Post-Dispatch after the hearing that he sees his advocacy for LGBTQ Missourians as a duty. It’s one borne from personal experience.
“There were several months of senior year in high school where I was in a deep, deep depression,†said Razer. “Two different nights, I had the suicide notes written. I was sitting there with the weapon, staring at it deciding ’Is it better to kill myself, or to live in the closet forever?’ because coming out, didn’t even seem like an option.â€
“I know that in every Senate district in the state, there is some kid making that decision. And I wish I would have heard from somebody in this building that was advocating for me,†Razer said.
Nonetheless, Razer said, “we’ve come a long way.†He said he’s seen the intensity of LGBTQ opposition dwindle and pointed to the fact that there are now openly gay lawmakers in both parties.
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