"I’m not an advocate or an ally, I’m family."

February 26, 2023 6:44 AM

'They can't attack me. Now they're coming after kids.' Missouri leads the nation in anti-LGBTQ bills. Here's what the only gay member of the state senate thinks about it (slPolitico).
posted by box (15 comments total)

The thing that strikes me is the naked cruelty of these bills. If the statistics are accurate, 1 in 200 people are transgender. The average high school in Missouri is 383 students. So we are talking about taking one or two kids — who already feel isolated and bullied by many of their peers — and adding the weight of the state on their necks.

Legislators who oppose this need to be louder and clearer in saying these bills will kill kids.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 8:22 AM on February 26, 2023 [19 favorites]

And the legislators don't actually care about this issue. As the interview notes, it's purely a game to them. They're just ginning up animosity against an already massively marginalized group to prop up their own popularity, since they have no positive agenda to offer. They are happy to let children die so their party can stay in power.
posted by 1adam12 at 8:31 AM on February 26, 2023 [18 favorites]

So they can all go home and say, “I kicked a trans kid in the face.”

...

Currently in the state of Missouri, almost 311,000 middle- or high-school students play sanctioned sports. Of those, five are transgender. Five. We’re talking about less than 1/1000 of 1 percent. To put it another way, you are four times more likely to be struck by lightning than you are to be a trans kid on a sports team in the state of Missouri.

...

So I’m friends with these people, and then I would watch them all very loudly vote an amendment down, that just says, “Greg gets to have a roof over his head.” And last year on the Senate floor, somebody had asked me, like, “Greg, if this comes up, don’t take our votes personally.” And I said on the Senate floor, “Somebody said that to me. And yes, I do take it personally.” I very much take it personally, because it’s personal.
posted by kliuless at 9:14 AM on February 26, 2023 [12 favorites]

I greatly admire Razer's fierce defense and support of trans kids, especially during nasty and contentious committee hearings. It must feel lonely and weighty sometimes to be the only openly gay member of the Missouri Senate.

He really went after a fellow senator who tried to claim that the "Don't Say Gay" bill wasn't personal and wouldn't affect Razer in any way. As he mentioned in the article, it seems very challenging to have those kinds of legislative debates and then have your colleagues expect you won't 'take it personally'. I hope he stays in the MO Senate until he's termed out.
posted by scottcal at 9:26 AM on February 26, 2023 [4 favorites]

This is a really excellent interview. We could use more state legislators like Razer. Thanks for posting it!
posted by May Kasahara at 9:42 AM on February 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

“You’re different. We don’t understand you. We’ve got to do something about you."

This sums up EVERYTHING to me. Except it's politer than what I think Republicans are actually thinking, which is, "if it's different, kill it!"

Trans kids are just easy low hanging fruit to destroy first. Such a small number of them.

I'm glad Greg feels safe (!?!?) somehow, but he's not. After the low hanging fruit are destroyed, he's next on the "different to destroy" list.

That said, loved this interview, loved Greg, and God, I hope he can manage to do something.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:01 AM on February 26, 2023 [4 favorites]

My parents were divorced. I came out to my mom first, and her overall reaction can be summed up as, “I can’t say that I’m happy. But I’m happy that you’re happy.” Which is not a terrible response. Sadly, one of the very first things she said to me was, “Promise me you’ll never move back home.” Not that she was embarrassed or ashamed. She was afraid. She said, “I will be afraid every time you walk out the door.” And no mother in Missouri should ever have to say that to their kid.
posted by kliuless at 10:16 AM on February 26, 2023 [17 favorites]

I grew up on the Missouri side of Kansas City and the hard right turn the state has taken is so disappointing. Such a gd bummer.

Power to you, Greg.
posted by dismas at 10:17 AM on February 26, 2023 [3 favorites]

These laws against transgender people are starting to feel a lot like the laws in 1930s Germany being passed against Jews. I fear all the time this is going to get a lot worse before it gets better and is going to expand to all the letters in the queer salad.

I'm glad this one state has this one ally fighting the good fight. I wish I were seeing more of this in all the states.
posted by hippybear at 10:17 AM on February 26, 2023 [10 favorites]

If the statistics are accurate, 1 in 200 people are transgender.

If more recent preliminary surveys are accurate, the number may be much higher than this.
posted by aniola at 10:34 AM on February 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

These laws against transgender people are starting to feel a lot like the laws in 1930s Germany being passed against Jews.

Or, to be more historically appropriate, they're exactly like the laws in 1930s Germany that actually were passed against LGBTQ people.
posted by Glegrinof the Pig-Man at 10:36 AM on February 26, 2023 [34 favorites]

The History of the Gay Male and Lesbian Experience during World War II
posted by robbyrobs at 10:44 AM on February 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

When I was in high school, there was this girl who tried to come out to me. I backed away, afraid. She just needed a kind word, but I rejected her. I will always regret that moment.

Years later, I learned that he had transitioned. He just needed someone, me!, to be himself, and I failed him.

It's OK to talk about transgender folk until it becomes personal. Then you realize, this person, right here in front of you, is struggling.
posted by SPrintF at 12:12 PM on February 26, 2023 [7 favorites]

There are so many more of us than the official stats show. Coming out has risks and human costs.

Good for Razer on speaking up. I don't envy him.

These bills reinforce power by delegated cruelty. It reaffirms that one of the possible purposes of government is to formalize the injury of one set of people at the whim of another.

If you can't see that this is explicitly how those proposing and voting for these bills understand the situation, look again.

And next time you hear one of them speak of compassion and humanity, frame those words in the context of their actions.
posted by allium cepa at 7:38 PM on February 26, 2023 [5 favorites]

Missouri: The Show Me You're an Asshole State
posted by kirkaracha at 9:34 AM on February 27, 2023