This evening, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon delivered his State of the State address to Missourians. Nixon’s speech included strong support for the Missouri Nondiscrimination Act (MONA). Governor Nixon asserted, “We need to end discrimination against LGBT Missourians in the workplace. No Missourian should be fired because of who they are or who they love. Last year, the Missouri Nondiscrimination Act passed the Senate with bipartisan support, but failed to get to my desk. Let’s get that done this year.”
By mentioning lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) protections in the State of the State, Nixon became the first sitting Governor in Missouri to raise the profile of this important issue impacting the LGBT community. PROMO applauds Governor Nixon’s evolution on LGBT issues and his growing support for an inclusive policy. Several corporations and businesses across Missouri have signed on in support of the Missouri Nondiscrimination Act. (The full list is available at www.MOWorkplaceEquality.com.)
PROMO has been working with elected officials and community members to pass the Missouri Nondiscrimination Act (MONA), which would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, and public accommodations. MONA would simply extend the existing Missouri Human Rights Statute to LGBT, and allied people.
The current law prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, age as it relates to employment, disability, and familial status as it relates to housing. This legislation would add to the list a prohibition against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In 2013, the Senate advanced nondiscrimination for the first time in Missouri history.
“We are excited to see the Governor’s continued evolution on issues impacting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. We share the Governor’s vision of creating a better Missouri reflective of the needs of the next generation. Increasingly, that generation knows and respects the challenges of the LGBT community and wishes to see the community reflected in the broad diversity that already makes up our great state,” stated A.J. Bockelman, Executive Director of PROMO.
