Missouri Bill Would Put Teachers Who Encourage Transgender Kids On Sex Offender Registry

A new bill was just introduced in Missouri that would make helping transgender students under the age of 18 ‘socially transition’ a felony.

The bill was proposed by Republican Rep. Jamie Gragg.

It would also force educators who support transgender students to register as a sex offender.

Take a look:

Missouri bill would require educators to register as sex offenders if they encourage transgender students https://t.co/782tyIJp61

— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 4, 2024

Proposed House Bill 2885 would require school teachers to register as sex offenders if they provide support to a transgender student's social transitioning.
https://t.co/jfaKYZxcM9

— KCTV5 News (@KCTV5) March 4, 2024

The proposed bill defines ‘social transition’ 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.”

So, teachers who encourage students by using pronouns that don’t line up with their birth sex or verbally affirming their ‘preferred gender identity’, could be charged with a felony and put on a sex registry list.

In effect, these educators would lose their jobs and be barred from education altogether, since sex offenders in Missouri are not allowed within 500 feet of schools.

Fox News has more details:

A new bill introduced in the Missouri legislature would classify assistance to transgender students under 18 in their “social transition” as a felony, making the legislation the first of its kind in a slew of culture war bills introduced by state Republicans.

The bill defines a social transition 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 Missouri bill, introduced by Republican state Rep. Jamie Gragg, would also require the educators to register as sex offenders if they’re found encouraging students to further embrace their preferred gender identity. This could effectively terminate educators’ careers, since sex offenders in Missouri are prohibited from being within 500 feet of a school or day care.

“This is kind of that missing link, when it comes to really making sure that we protect our children and protecting their relationship between them and their parents,” Gragg told Fox News Digital in an interview. “We have parents that are completely being bypassed, and there’s been a narrative that has grown leaps and bounds.”

Support for a student’s social transition would be considered verbal discussion of their sexual orientation, pronouns or gender identity, or it could be in the form of written materials, resources and signs.

“A person commits the offense of contributing to social transition if the person is acting in his or her official capacity as a teacher or school counselor and the person provides support, regardless of whether the support is material, information, or other resources to a child regarding social transition,” the bill text reads.

Gragg argued “with kids being in that age group, that’s the most confusing time of human development, and there are so many different hormones and chemicals in your body.”

“To have the social warriors in our school system pushing the [LGBTQ+] agenda, saying you’ll be accepted in this group, we need to safeguard our children from that kind of thing because they’re so easily influenced,” he said.

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River Front Times also reported:

A new bill introduced in the Missouri House would force teachers to register as sex offenders if they use the names and pronouns of transgender children or otherwise support them and their identity.

HB2885, filed on Thursday, February 29 by state Representative Jamie Gragg (R-Ozark), would make it a Class E felony  for teachers or school counselors to aid the “social transition” of a child — meaning that a teacher “provides support, regardless of whether the support is material, information, or other resources to a child regarding social transition.”

The bill defines “social transition” 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.”

Teachers found guilty of “supporting social transition” would be placed in the same sex offender registration category as Tier 1 sex offenders, which is Missouri’s lowest level but includes possession of child porn or attempting a sexual act. And since no Missouri sex offender is permitted to be within 500 feet of a school or daycare, the bill would effectively end the teacher’s career.

Gragg did not have any co-sponsors as of press time and no hearing has been scheduled for his bill.

If it were to become law, however, the bill’s provisions could have devastating effects not only for Missouri teachers, but also for transgender and gender non-conforming children.

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What do you think?

Would you support this bill?

Should other states adopt similar measures?