JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — LGBT activists and allies rallied in the capitol Wednesday morning for their annual Equality Day as a House committee is expected to move forward with SJR 39 Wednesday night.
While in the past the lobby day has focused on any number of issues affecting the community, this year it focused exclusively on the resolution. The gathered people were expected to lobby only members of the Emerging Issues and General Laws committees in hopes of keeping SJR 39 from reaching the House floor.
“We are exclusively taking a stand against SJR 39,” said PROMO director Steph Perkins. “We have selected a specific list of elected officials for you to talk to today because they can make or break [SJR 39].”
Sarah Rossi, the Missouri ACLU’s director of policy and advancement also spoke, saying the focus on SJR 39 this session has kept the LGBT community from focusing on other issues, especially in a session where they thought they would be working on advancing legislation that would benefit the community.
“I feel like I’ve been talking myself blue in the face for the past two months about SJR 39,” she said before listing several of the issues she thought she would be talking about this session. “Instead, what we’ve spent all of our time doing is fighting tooth and nail.”
Former Mizzou standout football player Michael Sam, the first openly gay player drafted into the NFL, addressed the rally in the first floor rotunda. He looked the part of a football player while leading the crowd in a chant of “not in our state,” but also addressed the resolution.
“This so called religious freedom bill is just another way to undermine the dignity of LGBT people and their families,” he said. “SJR 39 is the opposite of respect and opposite of equality. It doesn’t reflect the Missouri that I know.”
In maybe a sign of the issue’s traction with younger generations, a group of school kids wandered by and marveled that Michael Sam was there.
