JEFFERSON CITY — A ºüÀêÊÓƵ-area Democrat formally called for Gov. Mike Parson to remove the chairman of the Missouri Commission on Human Rights after his opposition last month to the outlawing of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Sen. Doug Beck, D-Affton, filed paperwork Tuesday seeking to oust the Rev. Timothy Faber, chairman of the commission, after Faber testified in opposition to the legislation during a committee hearing.
Faber did not initially introduce himself as chairman of the human rights commission but instead said he was acting as the legislative liaison for the Missouri Baptist Convention and as an ordained minister.
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Beck said that “obfuscation†erodes the trust senators need to have with the state’s various boards and commissions.
“He can no longer continue in his capacity as chair,†the filing said.
Beck and fellow Democrats in the Senate earlier said Faber’s testimony was in direct contradiction to the mission of the Missouri Commission on Human Rights.
While the protects against discrimination based on a person’s race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex and disability, current law doesn’t address discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
The Missouri Nondiscrimination Act, or MONA, would change that, outlawing discrimination in housing, employment and in other areas based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
In calling for his resignation Tuesday, Beck used a legislative filing known as a remonstrance.
Like a bill, a remonstrance needs to be approved by a committee before coming before the Senate for a vote. It would not go to the House of Representatives. Even if passed, a remonstrance has no force of law; rather, it expresses the opinion of the Senate.
The maneuver is relatively rare.
In February, for example, Sen. Nick Schroer, R-Defiance, filed a remonstrance asking for the Supreme Court’s disciplinary office to investigate allegations of misconduct by ºüÀêÊÓƵ Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner.
In 2014, former Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, D-University, used the procedure to call for the resignation of then-Gov. Jay Nixon over his handling of police protests in Ferguson.
Parson, a Republican, named Faber, a fellow Republican, to the post in 2021. , appointed by the governor, currently has four members and seven vacancies.
In his testimony against MONA, Faber said passage of the law would cause the commission’s caseload to “increase exponentially†and worsen a case backlog.
Faber said he has no plans to step down.
“I don’t see it as that big of a deal. I’m only one commissioner,†Faber told the Post-Dispatch.