"Why Am I Here?" Anti-trans Witness Questions Herself In Missouri After Seeing Trans Kid During Grueling 9 Hour Hearing
Missouri heard 8 anti-trans bills in a single committee overnight on January 24, 2023. One 11 year old trans boy stole the show. The witness following closed with, "why am I even here?"
It was one of the most stunning moments of the night. In a hearing in Missouri which stretched late into the night to 2AM, an 11 year old trans boy named Dan gave a speech asking the legislative committee on general laws for his basic rights. Missouri legislators proposed 8 anti-trans bills and sent them into committee with only 25 hours notice, thinking that they could sneak them through while minimizing the chance that others would show up. It was a miscalculation - within hours of the announced bills, activists across the state mobilized and people drove hours in the snow just for a chance to testify. Dan’s family was among them, and for the first time of the night, the committee was going to hear a transgender boy speak about the effects these laws would have on him. His speech was so stunning that the following speaker who testified in favor of the anti-trans bills closed with the realization that the laws were government overreach, asking herself, “what am I doing here?” at the end of her testimony. See the entire exchange here:
The exchange was powerful and was one of many emotional moments on a night where the committee heard 8 anti-trans pieces of legislation. Three bills were anti-trans sports bill, three were gender affirming healthcare bans, and two would ban drag from public while also targeting transgender people. Opponents to the bills showed up in droves and filled up both the committee room, the overflow room, and the halls outside of the hearing.
The hearing started off with fireworks. Representative Keri Ingle was sharp in her lines of questioning on the sports bills. At one point she asked the representatives sponsoring the bills how their bills would include intersex people and if they even knew what intersex people were - they did not. Representatives Ashley Aune, Peter Meredith, Emily Weber, and others joined in on the intense grilling. Representative Aune asked the male sponsors, “I would like to ask each one of you which biological advantage you have over me.”
One sponsor answered, “May I answer it generically without comparing a biological advantage I may have over you, because I really don’t know you that well to declare a biological advantage…”
Rep. Ingle responded, “That’s interesting you say that. So are you saying that we should be looking at an individual basis and that we cant generalize?”
The bill’s sponsor could not formulate a response.
Exchanges such as these would set the tone for the night. The Republicans who made up the majority of the committee seemed to be silent, asking only a handful of questions throughout the course of the meeting. The Democrats interrogated the bill sponsors and witnesses with the practiced precision of people who have done these kinds of hearings for a while - which these representatives have. For over four straight years, Missouri has proposed anti-trans legislation. Nearly all of the participants were veterans to these kinds of hearings.
When the discussion turned to healthcare, the sharp questioning continued. Representative Kerri Ingle pointed out that the transgender healthcare bans targeted gender affirming care for transgender kids, yet still allowed cisgender kids to receive the same care - breast implants, for instance, would only be banned for trans girls but not for cisgender girls who had parental consent. This reflected a similar exchange we saw in Utah last week when Republicans voted down an amendment that would have added a breast implant ban for cisgender teenagers to the bill. Rep. Meredith challenged the main scientific article for which the Republican ban was based off of, pulling a statement from the author in the middle of the exchange that said that the Republicans were misusing his research and that the research did not say what they claimed it said.
The trans kids, families of trans kids, and older trans people who showed up then stole the show. Dan’s exchange set the tone for several other trans kids and families. One crying parent, when testifying, noted that he ran into Dan in the bathroom and saw the fear he had. Among the more powerful moments was transgender comedian Stacy Cay’s testimony about her own life and the effect that hormone therapy had on her as well as the impact of withholding it.
“My only regret is that I was not able to start hormone therapy earlier. It haunts me. There were two other young trans women who grew up in my church closeted. They’re dead now. They haunt me,” Stacy spoke emotionally.
Watch her full testimony:
Many more people emotionally testified and mostly avoided questions from Republicans, who were content to ask virtually none. It was when a witness from the Trevor Project showed up that a Republican finally asked a question that some could see as threatening. When Kate Smith testified on the effect of these laws on the suicidality of transgender youth, Representative Justin Hicks read off the Missouri child abuse statute and then asked if she was advocating for child abuse for advocating that trans youth get the medically recommended care from their doctors. Just last year, Texas had started investigating the parents of transgender kids for child abuse without legislative approval - a threatening omen from the Vice Chair of the committee and a reprehensible moment considering the number of trans kids that were in the room with their parents.
The meeting stretched late into the night and finished with two anti-drag bills that would define transgender people or “people dressed opposite of their assigned sex at birth” as doing drag. The bills then would ban drag anywhere that is not a strip club. Even one of the Republicans on the committee pointed out that the bills were overly broad and could have some first amendment concerns.
Testifying late into the night, a series of drag queens then walked up to provide testimony. Each one of them pleaded for their right to express themselves freely and pointed out how the work that they do was not threatening to children. One artist was a drag queen story hour reader with high community accolades, another was a contestant in national drag events. It was when Maxi Glamour spoke though in an elaborate costume with artistic flourish and blue hair that Rep. Meredith was moved to say, “if anyone doubts that drag is artistic expression protected by the first amendment, that should end after looking at your art.”
The testimony came to a close and all of those who had showed up made their way back into the snow. The hearing had been overwhelmingly in support of protecting transgender people from unconstitutional sports bans, health care bans, and bans on expressing themselves and dressing in affirming ways. Because Republicans scheduled the hearing with only a days notice with an impending snow storm, many had to drive several hours in the early morning darkness and snow to get back to their hometowns. However, anyone that was there was treated to something that they can cherish: being part of one of the most powerful pushback against legislative bigotry I have ever seen. The way that Missouri mobilized is a testament to the strength of the activists who showed up. It was a masterclass to other legislators and statewide organizations across the country. Because children like Dan were able to speak about their experiences, hearts and minds were changed last night. We will see if the Republicans who sat silently allowed their hearts to similarly soften when they cast their votes on these bills.
What an amazing and thorough summary of what happened in Missouri. Including those video clips really brought the speakers to life. What courage they displayed. Watched similar hearings in Utah yesterday. Kept hearing over and over how much the repubs love children and this is all for the children. One guy literally read from the Bible and cried. Pathetic.
I was born and raised in the St. Louis area, and seeing this makes me cry