JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The Missouri Chamber of Commerce, today, again went on record in opposition to adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the Missouri Human Rights Statute in a hearing before the House Civil and Criminal Proceedings Committee. The proposed bill, known as the Missouri Nondiscrimination Act (MONA), has been introduced since 1998 and has gained traction year after year, yet has not gained enough support for full passage.
Jay Atkins, lobbyist for the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, said during the hearing he didn’t disagree with any of the testimony for MONA, but then followed that with, “the Missouri Chamber opposes this bill.”
The Missouri Chamber's position stands in contrast to the trend noted around the country as multiple business chambers have come out in support of adding those categories for protection in employment, housing and public accommodations. The caveat put forth by the Missouri Chamber is that in order to allow sexual orientation and gender identity to be included, they request another bill (HB 1019), which would make bringing a claim of discrimination more difficult, be passed.
Most recently Chambers in Arkansas and Indiana came out strongly against efforts to qualify allowable discrimination through enhanced Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRA's).
During testimony, Rep. Gina Mitten (D - St. Louis) told Atkins that the Missouri Chamber not supporting MONA “in and of itself is discrimination.” Mitten continued, “Using equality as a bargaining tool to weaken rights for ALL Missourians is offensive to my family and loved ones who deserve the same rights as everyone else.”
Among the corporations testifying in support of MONA were Monsanto, St. Luke’s Hospital and Express Scripts. Also there in support of MONA was the Saint Louis Regional Chamber of Commerce. The Missouri Chamber of Commerce lists many corporations that have strong policies including sexual orientation and gender identity within the workplace.
“PROMO remains committed to seeing nondiscrimination protections pass in this state," said A.J. Bockelman, Executive Director of PROMO, Missouri's statewide LGBT advocacy organization. "We know the vast majority of the business community is with us on this issue. The testimony from the Missouri Chamber is disappointing in that the message today was essentially, we will only support adding protections if it becomes more difficult to prove a discrimination case in the state.”
A Missouri Senate panel heard testimony on the legislation (SB 237) in February. The House version of MONA is (HB 407)
In 2013, MONA passed through the Senate but failed to reach the House floor.
Press Release contributed to this article.