by: Deborah Reinhardt

A young person with a trans flag draped over their shoulders walked through the arched entrance of Missouri’s state Capitol. Passing scores of employees who had finished their day, work was just beginning for this young Missourian and more than 100 LGBTQIA2S+ advocates.

The House Emerging Issues Committee was preparing to hear testimony for and against seven bills that seek to further restrict gender-affirming healthcare in the state, as well as making permanent a ban on transgender athletes on school teams. According to PROMO Missouri, the LGBTQ+ public policy and advocacy organization, within the first month of this year’s session, 35 anti-LGBTQ+ bills are moving through the legislature; 26 of those bills target trans people.

Advocates filled two overflow rooms as they watched the hearing on closed-circuit television. A woman who identified herself as Debbie from Jefferson City, Missouri, had a handful of handmade friendship bracelets in blue, white, and pink (colors of the trans Pride flag) resting on her knee. When asked what brought her to the hearing, she said she is mother to an LGBTQ+ child.

“My heart breaks for these trans kids,” she said, adding it was her first time attending public testimony.

For more than six hours, a stream of transgender people, doctors, nurses, parents, and clergy shared their stories in support of trans rights. In contrast, four people testified in favor of the bills.

Ben Greene (he/him), a speaker, author, and advocate from St. Louis, shared some of his story about his transition, including a puberty he said he should not have had to endure.

“I watched in horror as my body changed in ways I knew were wrong,” Greene said during his testimony.

Today, Greene describes his life as joyful and travels around the world as a public speaker. His book, “My Child is Trans, Now What?” was published last year.

Cammie Storm (she/her), a trans woman from West Plains, Missouri, started her transition later in life. She advocates for LGBTQ+ and unhoused people in her community and brought several friends to Jefferson City for the hearings. Storm said many politicians want to erase trans people, but LGBTQ+ people are resilient, adding the number of supporters showing up at the hearings gave her hope.

“It’s hard being human. We all need grace,” she said.

The same week as the Jefferson City hearings, the Open and Affirming Team at Parkway United Church of Christ in St. Louis had its meeting. The agenda included planning for Trans Awareness Day (March 31).

Parkway UCC has been an open and affirming congregation since 2008. For several years, it has hosted the Gateway ONA spring convocation, a day of learning, fellowship, and mentorship. The church in October hosted a drag bingo for Gateway ONA, as well as a winter clothing drive for Metro Trans Umbrella Group. Justice moments included in Sunday worship have focused on International Pronoun Day, and gender-neutral language is often used in readings and hymns.

Rev. Kevin Cameron (he/him), senior pastor, remembers when Parkway UCC voted to be open and affirming. The church first convened an ONA Exploratory Committee.

“We had Bible studies, guest speakers, panel discussions with other churches who had become ONA, community forums and more. We engaged in meaningful and emotional conversations,” he said, adding in the end, some people left the church, but new members seeking an open and affirming congregation joined.

Cameron said it is critical that churches be open and affirming.

“When we gather at the baptismal font and make our covenant promises to every individual and family that comes, pledging ‘our love, support and care,’ we are not thinking that we will renege on that if the person doesn’t stay within a certain biographical sketch or boundaries. When we say ‘all,’ we mean all,” he said.

Back in Jefferson City, Katy Erker-Lynch (she/they), executive director of PROMO Missouri, gave an update on the hearings. It was after 11 p.m. and she said testimonies opposing the ban on student trans athletes would continue for several more hours.

“It has been absolutely beautiful to see folks come together,” she said. “This has been a bright light on a very difficult day.”

Deborah Reinhardt leads the LGBTQ+ Faith Alliance, an interfaith coalition of affirming/reconciling congregations in the greater St. Louis area. She also is a member at Parkway United Church of Christ.