by Jim Day
    Many Missouri legislators are attempting to make homosexuals a special protected class of people under Missouri's civil rights laws.
    On February 28, the media, legislators, homosexual activist leaders and homosexuals, as well as pro-family group leaders and individuals filled the basement hearing room of the state capitol in Jefferson City. They were assembled before the Civil Administrative Law Committee to voice their support of or opposition to House Bill 712, which will amend Missouri's anti-discrimination statutes to include "sexual orientation." The bill defines sexual orientation as anyone who is "heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual by inclination, practice, identity, or expression, or having a self image or identity not traditionally associated with one's maleness or femaleness." ("Self image" was admitted during testimony to mean transgendered homosexuals.)
    Two of the primary areas of discrimination, which the bill covers are employment practices (hiring, firing and compensation/benefits) and housing practices (renting, selling, leasing or providing lodging - including advertising with respect to the sale or rental that indicates any preference, limitation or discrimination).
    The bill also empowers Governor Holden's Commission on Human Rights (HRC) to, among other things, "promote goodwill and minimize or eliminate discrimination" in the areas covered by this legislation. In essence, one could say that this could be interpreted as putting the state in the business of promoting homosexuality. This is particularly noteworthy since this bill clearly impacts public schools and Missouri based Boy and Girl Scout organizations.

Challenges to the Legislation
    Representative Richard Byrd from the 94th district raised several poignant concerns. In addressing the attorney for the HRC who spoke in favor of the bill, Byrd pointed out that according to Missouri's sexual misconduct laws, sodomy - even consensual sex between adults of the same sex - is still a crime in Missouri. He then raised the question as to why the legislative sponsors of the bill were trying to pass a bill to provide special protections to a class of people who, by definition of their group, were breaking the law? The attorney for the HRC stated that he believed a Missouri Supreme Court case had rescinded that part of the law pertaining to consensual sex between adults of the same gender.
    Byrd however informed him that just the opposite was the case and that in 1986 the Missouri Supreme Court, in Missouri v. Walsh (713 S.W.2d 508), had ruled that Missouri's sodomy laws - particularly in relation to consensual sex between same sex partners - were constitutional.
    Other questions raised by opponents of the bill included; Since the bill covers all establishments of public accommodations (restaurants, hotels, theaters, state offices, etc.), what happens when someone who has a self image of being one sex decides to stroll into a public rest room of the opposite sex? Will that mean anyone objecting to such an action stands the risk of being cited for "sexual discrimination"? Or, what about male inmates who decide they would rather think of themselves as being female? Will the state be forced to transfer them to a female prison?
    Although section 213.065 of this bill states that the provisions of this bill "shall not apply to a private club, a place of accommodation owned by or operated on behalf of a religious corporation, association or society" the bill says nothing about excluding individuals with sincerely held religious beliefs. In fact just the opposite is true. Anyone who believes that homosexuality is a sin and does not wish to rent to same-sex couples or hire someone who is homosexual, bisexual or transgendered - won't have a choice. And, according to this law, the state will have every right to force them to violate their beliefs! This of course will affect every Protestant, Catholic, Muslim and person of the Jewish faith whose doctrine stands opposed to homosexual behavior.

Defending the Legislation
    Those who spoke in defense of the legislation included a number of civil rights activists, college students and Jeff Wunrow, Executive Director of PREP (Privacy Rights Education Project). PREP, headquartered in St. Louis, is one of the state's most active gay rights advocacy groups. Their arguments of course were stereotypical of what homosexual activists have used throughout the country to advance their agenda and included attempts to compare their alleged struggles with those faced by African Americans during the civil rights movement, individual testimonies decrying discrimination and pleas for fairness and equal rights.
    Representative Barbara Fraser of the 83rd district (one of the many sponsors of the bill) even used one of the movement's more popular religious arguments when she attacked Kerry Messer, President of Missouri Family Network, who presented testimony against the bill.
    Fraser asked Messer why he would oppose a bill that would guarantee equal rights prohibiting discrimination when his organization was composed of religious supporters and churches - especially when the greatest commandment is to love thy neighbor. Had Fraser allowed Messer to respond (which she didn't) he would have informed her that "Yes, we are commanded to love our neighbor - as we love ourselves. We are also instructed, as Christians, to 'love the sinner, yet hate the sin.' However, promoting and sanctifying the homosexual lifestyle, which is not only spiritually destructive but also physically destructive to those who choose to engage in such behavior, is not loving your neighbor. In fact, it is just the opposite. Condoning or sanctifying such behavior is diametrically opposed to Scripture and tells those involved in the lifestyle that you don't care if they burn in hell for eternity or die a painful, agonizing death from A.I.D.S or some other sexually transmitted disease.
    At press time it was not known whether or not HB 712 had been voted out of committee, but we will keep our eye on this bill.

Kirkwood Students Join PREP to Lobby
    In a related situation, as mentioned in last month's MetroVoice, students from Kirkwood High School's Gay-Straight Alliance Club, led by their Principal and chief sponsor, Franklin McCallie, took a little field trip to Jefferson City on February 21st to lobby for HB 712.
    For those who are not aware, Kirkwood High now has a "club" for students who are gay or straight with 6 teacher sponsors. Activists from GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Educational Network), PREP and Growing American Youth met with the students to help start the club in early January of this year. The number of students who belong to the club or, who have at least attended meetings, varies depending upon whom you ask. It would appear that the club has at least 8 or 9 core members with anywhere from 15 to 24 students who have attended at least one meeting. Sponsors of the club include: Kirkwood High School Principal Franklin McCallie; Guidance Counseling Department Chairman, Adele Hayes; guidance counselor Pamela Hughes, social studies teachers Phil McFarland and Andrew Johnson; and Franklin McCallie's wife, Tresa, who is the Director of the Kirkwood School District Parents as Teachers Program.
    The club's field trip on February 21st was not what most people would consider an ordinary school outing. Nine students from Kirkwood High took a school bus to Frontenac Plaza early that morning where they were joined by 3 students from 3 other local schools and some 24 adult members of PREP. From there, the group took the bus to Jefferson City were they gathered in the capitol rotunda with students, activists and sponsors from other schools around Missouri - including Springfield and Kansas City. The students were then trained by PREP on how to lobby, what they were suppose to lobby for, supplied handout materials, broken into small groups and whisked off to lobby state lawmakers.
    What the kids were told to lobby for was HB 712. They also lobbied for bills eliminating that part of Missouri's sodomy laws which criminalize sex between adults of the same gender.
    When asked whether or not he knew that the kids were going to be lobbying to do away with part of Missouri's sodomy laws, McCallie stated that he did indeed know what the kids were going to be lobbying for and said that he himself had lobbied to do away with that part of Missouri's sodomy laws which prohibit consensual sex between adults of the same gender. He also related that he thought gays needed to have protections from being denied insurance and visitation rights in hospitals and said that he had also lobbied for same-sex marriages or, in his words, "same-sex unions." McCallie stressed that legislators didn't like the word "marriage" but liked to use the term "unions" instead.

Note: Many thanks to Heather Summers for her report on the HB712 committee meeting.