Discrimination

Pre-filed bills aim to prevent transgender Missourians from using their gender identity on state-issued licenses. Current policy requires a person to provide proof of gender transition surgery to change their gender marker, which LGBTQ advocates say is discriminatory.

As nativist rhetoric hits a fever pitch ahead of the 2024 election, immigrants and refugees in Kansas City question their safety, and their future, in the U.S.

Rebecca Reynolds is a 61-year-old paramedic with the KCFD. She said she was subjected to demeaning and humiliating conduct because of her sexual orientation, gender and age.

Transgender adolescents are seeking to block a Missouri law passed last year that bars them from beginning puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, arguing the ban is unconstitutional and discriminatory. The trial begins Monday.

In a unanimous decision, the court ruled that the Blue Springs School District discriminated against the student, identified by his initials R.M.A., on the basis of sex when it barred him from using the boys’ locker room.

Racially restrictive deeds and exclusionary covenants are still scattered across the Kansas City metro, embedded deep in the bylaws of homes associations and subdivisions’ rules, even though they can no longer be enforced. Now, property owners have a way to remove the language from the documents.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly is again pushing lawmakers to expand the health care program Medicaid, which is widely supported by Kansans. But Republican leaders remain staunchly opposed. Plus: Female veterinarians still face skepticism and discrimination in rural areas, where there’s a shortage of animal specialists.

The Missouri General Assembly passed a law in 2017 making it harder for people to prove housing discrimination cases. Because that violates the federal Fair Housing Act, Missouri loses hundreds of thousands of dollars every year that would have been used to investigate discrimination complaints.

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.