In a new bill introduced in the Missouri House, teachers who support a transgender cultural change may be listed on the state’s sex offender registration. It appears to be the first anti-trans act to declare a young child’s sex change illegal.
Rep. Jamie Gragg, who has recently taken strong anti-LGBT+ and anti-abortion positions, introduced House Bill 2885 on February 29. Providing students with aid around social change “regardless of whether the support is substance, details, or other resources,” according to the legislation, would make it a class E misdemeanor for teachers or school counselors.
Social transition is defined as “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.”
The charges may also apply to teachers who have LGBTQ+ symbols or writing in their schools, according to Gragg, according to local media outlet KY3.
In the event that HB 2885 is passed, teachers who are found guilty of violating the law could face a fine of $10,000 and prison time. Also, they might be listed as Tier 1 offenders on Missouri’s state sex offender registration. People who have been found guilty of offenses like voyeurism of an unaware victim, public indecency, simple possession of child pornography, and non-penetrating sexual conduct are now included in the tier. Level 1 offenders have a 15-year registration necessity, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the registry’s maintainer.
Given that Missouri sex offenders are prohibited from being within 500 feet of any school property, this conviction would essentially end a teacher’s career, according to Truthout.
Although she doesn’t believe “something like this could pass, even in Missouri,” it’s important to note because it’s uncommon to get ‘new’ anti-trans bills that haven’t been written before, according to journalist Erin Reed in an X post regarding the bill.
Aaron Schekorra, senior director of the GLO Center in Springfield, described it as “a very serious step in a time when we have a shortage of teachers in our state.” “When we’re talking about, ‘We’re not encouraging people to enter this profession because they’re going to be labeled as sexual offenders’ if they use the appropriate pronouns for a pupil. That doesn’t encourage anyone.”
At least 35 anti-LGBT+ bills have already been introduced in Missouri, according to the ACLU, in Missouri solely in 2024. In essence, drag may be criminalized in the state under a new bill, HB1650, which would make it illegal for drag performers to perform anywhere that a minor can access. The bill was introduced by Rep. Mazzie Christensen, a consultant from MAGA Republican. The upcoming House reading on HB1650 is scheduled for Wednesday, March 6.
