JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Missouri Governor Mike Parson told the Kansas City Star on Monday that he's open to the idea of extending discrimination protections to LGBTQ Missourians depending on what the legislation looks like.
The Bolivar Republican, who enjoys a GOP majority in both chambers of the legislature, made the statement on the eve of his first legislative session as governor following the resignation of Eric Greitens in June.
“Do I think people should be discriminated on in the workforce? No I don’t. I never have felt that way,” Parson told The Star when asked about his support for LGBTQ nondiscrimination legislation. “Even when it’s things I don’t believe in, and I’ve tried to make that apparent. My views are different than some, but at the end of the day, if somebody’s working and they’re a good worker, then I don’t think they should be discriminated against.”
In 2013, then state senator Parson was one of nine Republicans who joined with Democrats at the last moment to approve the Missouri Nondiscrimination Act (MONA), passing the legislation out of the full Senate Chamber.
MONA would add sexual orientation and gender identity to Missouri’s Human Rights Act, which currently prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations for other protected categories, including race, sex and national origin.
The pro-equality legislation was introduced in the Missouri House of Representatives for the 21st consecutive year this week. MONA was first introduced by former Rep. Steve McLuckie (D-44-Kansas City) in 1998.
HB208 was pre-filed ahead of the 2019 legislative session, which begins on Jan. 9th, by openly gay Rep. Greg Razer (D-25-Kansas City).
There are over 1,200 businesses, including multiple Fortune 500 companies, in Missouri that continue to strongly urge the Missouri Legislature to pass MONA.
Last year, MONA was passed out of committee in the House for the first time in three years.