Missouri 2025 Regular Session

Missouri Senate Bill SB117 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2	FIRST REGULAR SESSION
3	3	SENATE BILL NO. 117
4	4	103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
5	5	INTRODUCED BY SENATOR MOON.
6	6	1059S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
7	7	AN ACT
8	8	To amend chapter 170, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to the sole purpose of
9	9	discussion of certain topics by school personnel.
10	10
11	11	Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
12	12	Section A. Chapter 170, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto 1
13	13	one new section, to be known as section 170.385, to read as 2
14	14	follows:3
15	15	170.385. 1. This section shall be known and may be 1
16	16	cited as the "Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection 2
17	17	Act". 3
18	18	2. For purposes of this section, the following terms 4
19	19	shall mean: 5
20	20	(1) "Biological sex", an individual's sex as assigned 6
21	21	at birth on his or her original birth certificate as 7
22	22	described in subsection 12 of this section, or, if the 8
23	23	individual's birth certificate is unobta inable, another 9
24	24	government record; 10
25	25	(2) "Gender identity", the preconceived notion of 11
26	26	someone's psychological, behavioral, social, and cultural 12
27	27	aspects of being a biological male or biological female. 13
28	28	For the purposes of this section, a biolog ical male shall be 14
29	29	someone with the biological indicators of a male in the 15
30	30	context of reproductive potential or capacity, such as the 16
31	31	presence of a Y chromosome, naturally occurring sex 17
32	32	hormones, gonads, and nonambiguous external genitalia 18 SB 117 2
33	33	present at birth. A biological female shall be someone with 19
34	34	the biological indicators of a female in the context of 20
35	35	reproductive potential or capacity, such as the absence of a 21
36	36	Y chromosome, naturally occurring sex hormones, gonads, and 22
37	37	nonambiguous internal and external genitalia present at 23
38	38	birth; 24
39	39	(3) "Parent", a parent or legal guardian of a 25
40	40	student. "Parents" means all of a student's parents or 26
41	41	legal guardians; 27
42	42	(4) "School", any public elementary or secondary 28
43	43	school or public charter school ; 29
44	44	(5) "School official", any employee at a school, 30
45	45	including nurses, counselors, teachers, principals, and 31
46	46	other contracted personnel; 32
47	47	(6) "Sexual relationship", an individual's actual or 33
48	48	perceived emotional or physical attraction to, or rom antic 34
49	49	or physical relationships with, members of the same 35
50	50	biological sex, members of a different biological sex, or 36
51	51	members of any biological sex; or the lack of any emotional 37
52	52	or physical attraction to, or romantic or physical 38
53	53	relationships with, anyo ne; 39
54	54	(7) "Student", any person who attends a public 40
55	55	elementary or secondary school or public charter school, is 41
56	56	under the age of eighteen, and is not an emancipated minor, 42
57	57	as such term defined in section 302.178. 43
58	58	3. (1) No school official sh all encourage a student 44
59	59	to adopt a gender identity or sexual relationship. 45
60	60	(2) This subsection shall not apply to course 46
61	61	components of a school's curriculum that have artistic or 47
62	62	anthropological significance or to materials used in science 48
63	63	courses, including, but not limited to, materials used in 49
64	64	biology, anatomy, physiology, and sexual education classes. 50 SB 117 3
65	65	4. If a student approaches a school official to 51
66	66	express discomfort or confusion about such student's 52
67	67	biological sex, the school officia l shall notify such 53
68	68	student's parents of the discussion within forty -eight hours. 54
69	69	5. No school official shall use a name to address a 55
70	70	student other than the name registered by such student's 56
71	71	parent during enrollment, or derivatives thereof, withou t 57
72	72	the written permission of such student's parents. 58
73	73	6. No school official shall use a pronoun to address a 59
74	74	student that differs from such student's biological sex 60
75	75	without the written permission of such student's parents. 61
76	76	7. No school official, when acting in the course of 62
77	77	his or her official duties, shall carry out any act or 63
78	78	communication that would violate subsections 4 to 6 of this 64
79	79	section. 65
80	80	8. No school shall require a school official to use a 66
81	81	pronoun that does not match a person 's biological sex if 67
82	82	doing so would be contrary to the school official's 68
83	83	religious or moral convictions. 69
84	84	9. Nothing in this section prohibits school officials 70
85	85	from discussing any matters of public concern outside the 71
86	86	context of their official dut ies. 72
87	87	10. Any school official who discloses a violation of 73
88	88	this section by a school official shall be protected from 74
89	89	any manner of retaliation as set forth in section 105.055. 75
90	90	11. If a school district or charter school discovers 76
91	91	that a school official employed by such district or charter 77
92	92	school has knowingly violated any provision of this section, 78
93	93	the district or charter school shall determine a reasonable 79
94	94	and fair penalty for such violation in accordance with state 80
95	95	law. 81 SB 117 4
96	96	12. For purposes of this section, a statement of an 82
97	97	individual's biological sex on his or her birth certificate 83
98	98	or another government record shall be deemed to have 84
99	99	correctly stated his or her biological sex only if the 85
100	100	statement was: 86
101	101	(1) Entered at or near the time of the individual's 87
102	102	birth; or 88
103	103	(2) Modified to correct any scrivener's error in the 89
104	104	individual's biological sex. 90
105	105	