Trans athletes take center stage in House debates

By Jack Schouten, Missouri News Network
JEFFERSON CITY — Arguments on the House floor became heated Thursday as members debated House Bill 1663, which would extend a ban on transgender students from participating in sports not associated with their biological sex.
“The bill was passed three years ago,” said Rep. Jeff Hales, D-St. Louis. “There was a sunset created to give time to provide more evidence. The evidence that existed then was thin at best and the arguments were dubious. Today is no different.”
The heated exchanges started when Rep. Keri Ingle, D-Lee’s Summit, said, “Where was that fear when the president was in dressing rooms,” while responding to a comment made by Rep. Hardy Billington, R-Poplar Bluff, about his granddaughters potentially being in a locker room with a transgender woman.
Ingle continued her statement by further mentioning President Donald Trump and calling for the release of the Epstein files. Rep. Brian Seitz, R-Branson, the bill’s sponsor, called for a point of order arguing that what Ingle was talking about didn’t pertain to the bill. Speaker of the House Jonathan Patterson, R-Lee’s Summit, denied Seitz’s call for a point of order.
Seitz has filed this same bill, to remove sunset provisions in the original ban, every year since the original ban was passed in 2023.
Later, when Seitz himself mentioned Trump while thanking the president for keeping men out of women’s sports, the left side of the room erupted in retaliatory calls for a point of order. Patterson again denied requests.
Ingle argued on the floor that the decision to remove the sunsets was likely a political move meant to win support during an election year.
“These are the kinds of bills that you all wanna pass when you have a tough primary,” she said. This comment was also met with a call for a point of order, which was denied.
The bill ultimately passed after Democrats spent hours arguing in opposition. Some Democrats noted that the bill would only affect a small number of Missouri’s residents.
“There were 10 student athletes that this bill affected over a 10-year period,” said Rep. Wick Thomas, D-Kansas City. “There have been more than three times that many bills filed to target these students. There have been more representatives in this legislature who have been accused of sexual crimes over that same period than trans students who want to play sports with their friends in this area.”
Rep. Bennie Cook, R-Houston, said that his view on the bill is influenced by his daughter, who plays school sports.
“My daughter, she plays girls’ basketball, she plays volleyball and softball,” Cook said. “I watch her play these sports and I want to ensure that she is safe on that court and they keep boys out of girls’ sports.”
Another argument came from Rep. Mark Boyko, D-Kirkwood, who has a daughter who competed against a trans athlete.
“If you ever had me pick between my own daughter winning yet another medal that won’t even make it into the van when she goes off to college and somebody else’s daughter finding a place where she can smile and feel like she belongs, a feeling that lasts a lifetime, I know what I will choose,” Boyko said.
Boone County Rep. John Martin, R-Columbia, spoke in favor of the bill, arguing that it didn’t discriminate against anyone.
“Schools can only allow students to be in athletic competitions designated with the student’s biological sex as indicated on the student’s official birth certificate,” Martin said. “Nobody is saying you can’t compete here or there, it’s simply by birth certificate, which is common sense.”