Senate to Hear Missouri Nondiscrimination Act on Wednesday

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - A Missouri Senate Committee will hear the Missouri Nondiscrimination Act or MONA on Wednesday, January 27 at the State Capitol.



MONA (SB 653) would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the existing Missouri Human Rights Statute, which currently prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations for other protected categories, including race, sex, religion and national origin. According to the Williams Institute, more than 160,000 LGBT adults in Missouri would benefit from an expanded statewide nondiscrimination law that includes sexual orientation and gender identity.



MONA passed the Senate for the first time in 2013 but failed to get a vote in the House before session ended. This year’s Senate Bill was introduced by State Sen. Joseph Keaveny (D-St. Louis). Over 1,062 Missouri small businesses support the Missouri Nondiscrimination Act.



Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, a Democrat, has again called on the Missouri Legislature to pass MONA in his annual State of the State Address. The pro-equality legislation has been introduced in both chambers of the Missouri General Assembly since 1998.



PROMO, Missouri's statewide LGBT advocacy organization, will be live Tweeting the hearing using #MONA16. The hearing will be live streamed at this link: http://www.progressmissouri.org/livestream.



Equality Day, PROMO’s annual lobby day, is scheduled for February 16, 2016 at the Missouri Capitol.