Earlier this week, the Western District Missouri Court of Appeals ruled that current state law barring discrimination based on sex is intended to prevent gender-based discrimination only, not discrimination based on sexual orientation. In the majority opinion, Chief Judge James Welch wrote, “No matter how compelling Pittman’s argument may be and no matter how sympathetic this court or the trial court may be to Pittman’s situation, we are bound by the state of the law as it currently exists.”
Attorney General Koster released the following statement in response to the ruling:
“The fact that any person can be fired from their job, evicted from their apartment, or treated differently under the law simply for who they love is wrong and should be changed,” said Attorney General Koster. “This ruling makes it clear that the time has come for Missouri to pass a new nondiscrimination act to ensure the LGBT community is afforded the same protections as all other Missourians. We should continue the important work of making our state a place where all feel welcome to live and work.”
