JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Rep. Stephen Webber and his supporters want to make it against state law to fire or evict someone based on their sexual orientation, but passage of a bill remains an uphill climb.
Webber, a Columbia Democrat who is running for the state senate in 2016, sponsors HB 407, which would add gender identity and sexual orientation to the Missouri Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in the workplace or in housing accommodations for Missourians based on skin color, creed, national identity, religion, gender, and more. Without language for LGBT individuals, proponents say Missourians will continued to be fired or evicted for discriminatory reasons.
“The economies of the future are going to be economies of inclusion,” Webber said. “Discrimination is unjust, and when we find it we should fix it.”
Webber’s bill mirrors language lawmakers in Missouri’s Capitol have weighed for years with little progress. The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Missouri both testified against the bill, saying the creation of new protected classes would increase lawsuits against business owners. The Chamber clarified that they would support the bill, but not until Missouri changes it’s standards for deciding unemployment benefits based on discriminatory practices to a higher legal standard.
The St. Louis Regional Chamber, Monsanto, Express Scripts, and some of the state’s largest businesses came out to testify in favor of the bill, citing their own internal policies and stating that businesses and individuals would be more likely to expand to Missouri if such protections were in place.
Concerned Women for America, the Missouri Family Network, and Missouri First – a conservative think tank, all testified against the bill, largely arguing that the free market would ultimately adopt such policies as a matter of necessity. Ron Calzone, a member of Missouri First, said the bill inhibited a fundamental American right.
“I have the God-given freedom as an American to discriminate against anyone for any reason,” Calzone said. “No one likes to say it but I’ll say it. In America, you have freedom of association. In America, you have a right to discriminate against anyone. It’s the government that can’t discriminate.”
The committee took no action on the bill at the conclusion of the public hearing.
Collin Reischman was the Managing Editor for The Missouri Times, and a graduate of Webster University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.
