Text of MO SB 117 (2025)

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 unobtainable, 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 biological 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 romantic 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, anyone; 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 shall 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 official 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, without 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 duties. 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 