Rabbi with trans son speaks out against cruel Missouri bathroom bill
The Missouri bills are part of a wave of over 250 horrific anti-LGBTQ+ bills tracked across the US in 2024 so far. (Anatoliy Cherkasov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
A Rabbi with a trans son has stood up against an anti-trans bathroom bill in Missouri, begging politicians to “leave us alone”.
On Wednesday (17 January), Missouri lawmakers debated several anti-LGBTQ+ bills, including one that would force people to use the bathroom that aligns with their biological sex.
The Missouri bills are part of a wave of over 250 horrific anti-LGBTQ+ bills tracked across the US in 2024 so far.
During the debates at the Missouri Capitol, Rabbi Daniel Bogard, who has a 10-year-old trans son, spoke out against the bill.
Bogard said his family is “desperately” trying to stay in their hometown despite the introduction bigoted bills that could mean they have to leave.
“I’m a parent of a 10-year-old trans boy, and I am here because I am fighting desperately to be able to stay in my home and not have to flee this state,” he stated.
Describing his son as “funny” and “smart”, with an “endless number of friends”, Rabbi Bogard told politicians that the only hard part of being a parent to a trans child is that “my government just won’t leave us alone”.
“We have to come back here again and again and fight just for his basic human dignity, just fight so that he can go and poop at school without being bothered,” he added.
“It is bills like this that will drive my family from this state. I mean it. I am desperately fighting to stay. My parents are here. I want my kids to raise another generation in this home that my grandpa built.
“I feel like I’m drowning because it happens again and again and again that we have to come here and fight for just the basic dignity of our kids.
“I’m begging you … just to leave us alone.”
Rabbi Bogard has previously testified in Missouri against anti-trans bills, including one passed in 2023 which restricts young people in the state from accessing gender-affirming care.
“There have always been trans people. There will always be trans people. It’s just another way of being human,” he told Slate in 2023 after opposing the bill.
The Rabbi went on to post on Twitter/X, however, that no matter how many times he speaks out against anti-LGBTQ+ bills, some right-wing politicians refuse to listen to his testimony.
“I’ve been coming to the Missouri Capitol for five years to testify against bigoted bills targeting trans kids,” he said. “And the one truism is that these cowardly GOP bill sponsors *never* stay to hear the testimony of the trans kids and adults that their legislation harms.”
According to the ACLU, there are currently 28 anti-LGBTQ+ active in Missouri.
