Today, in the Columbia Daily Tribune:
Legislator files bills prohibiting gender neutral housing, unisex public bathrooms
By Ashley Jost
Monday, March 23, 2015 at 2:00 pm[….]
….Rep. Jeff Pogue, R-Salem, said in a statement that he filed legislation prohibiting the creation of gender-neutral housing options by “any entity” that receives state money to protect “social norms.” Pogue also submitted a bill last week that would prohibit any state-funded bathroom from being unisex unless it is single-occupancy.
“I’m wanting to protect the social norms of our state, the same social norms that have operated in our state since the organization of Missouri in 1820,” Pogue said in an email. “These Missourian cultural rules, the status quo, are nearly 200 years old, and have operated well throughout our state.”
Pogue said in a statement that if the state “were to change a social norm of this magnitude,” the General Assembly or voters should make the decision, through a bill or a ballot measure. The result should apply statewide, he said….
[….]
Uh, were there his and hers outhouses in Missouri in 1821? Just asking.
A comment via Twitter:
Sean Nicholson @ssnich
‘social norms’ that have been updated in MO since 1820: – we don’t own other humans now – people who aren’t white men get to vote #moleg
2:49 PM – 23 Mar 2015
Touché.
Previously:
HB 1136: legislative interior design (March 9, 2015)
HB 1338: the water closet caucus (March 13, 2015)