Progressive Caucus calls on Tilley, Jones, Cookson to drop support of "Don't Say Gay" bill

(From the Missouri Progressive Caucus)

Today, the Missouri Progressive Caucus and other Democratic State Representatives

call on Speaker Tilley, Floor Leader Tim Jones, Rep. Steve Cookson and Rep. John Diehl to withdraw their support of House Bill 2051.

"Public outrage has shown us that we are not doing enough to protect all students in schools.  Students, teachers, administrators and those involved in the care of students all support being able to address sexual orientation and gender identity openly and compassionately,” said State Rep. Stacey Newman (D-Richmond Heights), chair of the House Progressive Caucus.  

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered students in Missouri commonly hear homophobic, sexist and negative remarks about themselves in schools.  These remarks come from both other students and staff members.  In fact most of these students have been victimized and bullied in school.  The majority of these incidents are not reported to adult authorities.

63% of students who were harassed or assaulted in school never reported it to school staff and 48% never told a family member about the incident.  Among students who did report incidents to school authorities, only 12% said that reporting resulted in effective intervention by staff.

Newman continued, "I applaud and join with 37 of my colleagues in the House in standing up for all students. We urge the bill sponsors to withdraw HB2051 which would have very serious ramifications if passed.”

Bullying or harassment of any student has no place in Missouri schools. Turning our back on Missouri students to advance a political agenda is mean-spirited.   HB2051 is simply wrong.