Missouri Republican exposes his colleague’s hypocrisy over anti-LGBTQ bill
"Which sexual orientations do you believe should be prohibited from Missouri classrooms?”
A US Republican’s proposed bill has been exposed for the bigoted and homophobic piece of legislation that it is thanks to another Republican lawmaker.
Ann Kelley, a Republican in the Missouri House of Representatives, introduced House Bill 634 in February. It would prohibit the teaching of anything to do with sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools.
While similar to Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay, Don’t Say Trans’, Kelley’s bill goes further by banning such teaching until children are 17 or 18.
The bill reads: “No classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties relating to sexual orientation or gender identity shall occur.”
In a recent debate, Kelley’s Missouri colleague, Phil Christofanelli, who is gay, quizzed Kelley about the language of the bill.
“You mentioned George Washington, who is Martha Washington?” Christofanelli asked. “His wife,” Kelley responded.
“With your bill, how could that be mentioned in the classroom?” Christofanelli then argued.
“To me, that’s not sexual orientation,” Kelley answered.
“So it’s only certain sexual orientations that you want to prohibit from introduction in the classroom,” Christofanelli also countered. “Which sexual orientations do you believe should be prohibited from Missouri classrooms?”
Kelley later tried to explain: “You can believe something without putting that on to somebody by the way you behave.
“And you can have beliefs and morals and values that guide you through life,” which only highlights her hypocrisy.
Pressed again on whether you could talk about Martha Washington when discussing George Washington Kelley offers a flimsy: “I don’t know.”
“She’s not here to serve her district, she’s here to serve herself”
On TikTok, political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen posted the Republican debate and offered his perspective.
“She’s saying she doesn’t give a sh*t whether or not her bill is openly discriminatory because this isn’t about the rights of other people it’s about her own beliefs.”
“She’s not here to serve her district, she’s here to serve herself,” he adds.
Nearly a year ago, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed the ‘Don’t Say Gay, Don’t Say Trans’ bill.
It bans discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in primary school classrooms. He’s since doubled down and promised to fight “woke ideology”.