KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Members and allies of the LGBTQ community took a bus from Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, to Jefferson City to protest Senate bills 39 and 49.
On that bus was 23-year-old Quinn Wake, who uses she/her pronouns. Wake says she feels the transgender community is under attack.
“Every single day, I Iook on Twitter or look at the news, and I see more stuff attacking me and I just want to be a person,” Wake said.
Wake said though her transition journey is still new, she feels comfortable in her own skin.
“I feel more comfortable in my body," Wake said. "I’m still a bit of a trans baby, I’m just seven months on estrogen, but I just feel more comfortable."
In light of what Wake describes as anti-trans legislation being introduced in the Missouri legislature, she is scared for other members of the trans community.
“It’s just an increased risk of just going out and being trans,” Wake said.
The protests on Wednesday came as Senate bill 39 and Senate bill 49 are waiting to be passed in the Missouri House of Representatives.
If signed into law, Senate bill 39 would set guidelines on sports in schools across Missouri, forcing students to play on sports teams based on their gender assigned at birth.
The bill is sponsored by Missouri Sen. Holly Thompson Rehder (R).
“I believe allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports threatens many of the gains brought about by Title IX," Rehder said in a column.
Senate bill 49 is sponsored by Sen. Mike Moon (R). The bill proposed that children should wait until they are of age to go through gender related procedures.
Moon addressed the bill to other legislators, which can be seen in this YouTube video.
“I and several of my colleagues have taken the action, so that these kids can be allowed to grow up, act as a child, to go through the fun times." Moon said. “Yes, there are difficult times too, but they can be allowed to grow up and reach the age of majority and then decide.”
Caitlin Jordan, a licensed professional counselor who works with both trans youth and adults, says the bills could do more harm than good.
“If they delay that until they are an adult, then obviously they are further along in their development and their biological sex," Jordan said. "And so those things can be harder to reverse and financially it cost them more down the road."
Now, members of the LGBTQ community and their allies in the state legislature want their voices heard.
“Those are decisions made between kids and their parents, and those parents and those medical professionals and mental health professionals,” Jordan said. “ This isn’t something that should be regulated on a government level.”
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