Discrimination

Missouri is one of 27 states that have yet to pass an act protecting Black people from hair discrimination at work and school, but there are grassroots efforts to relearn how to love and care for afro-texture hair.

The Lawrence City Commission will take a final vote on Aug. 22 to pass the CROWN Act, which stands for "Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair." The ordinance would protect Black people from race-related hair discrimination in the workplace.

The Buchanan County party leader threatened not to allow city council members to run as Republicans if they approved the appointment of a gay pastor to the city’s library board. The controversy has created a push for broader change in St. Joseph.

Lawrence, Kansas, will defy the state’s new requirement to force people to use gender-specific areas, such as restrooms, that don't align with their gender identity. The unanimous vote comes just a few months after the Kansas City Council made a similar declaration.

A new Kansas law is set to take effect July 1 that ties the state’s legal definitions of male, female, man and woman to a person’s sex assigned at birth. Roeland Park's new policy specifies that city employees can use restrooms and other facilities that align with their gender identity.

Missouri regulators listed ZIP codes that qualify as having historic incarceration rates for marijuana offenses in the new cannabis rules. None are in north St. Louis, where about half of the state’s Black population resides.

Three openly transgender educators in Kirkwood, Missouri, say the school district "sexualized my identity" and forced them to leave their jobs. In the backdrop are proposed Missouri policies that seek to limit how trans children and adults can exist openly in the state, including in schools.

Timothy Faber, a lobbyist for the Missouri Baptist Convention and the chair of the Missouri Commission on Human Rights, testified against a Senate bill that would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Faber used biblical references to argue that the bill infringed on “religious liberty.”

Three trans boys and their parents describe growing up amid a wave of anti-trans legislation.

Christina Anderson's play follows a Black family's journey through the years after desegregating the public pool in their fictional Kansas town. The show will tour 10 Kansas City community centers and libraries, after completing a run at Kansas City Repertory Theatre.

The report was commissioned in 2020 after the Kansas City Star published a year-long investigation exposing discrimination against Black and women firefighters.

After a news report revealed persistent issues with racist and sexist harassment at the Kansas City Fire Department, the city ordered an investigation into department conditions. It found problems persist, enabled in part by unions slowing efforts at reform.