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