Missouri Republicans introduced 58 anti-LGBTQ+ bills. Not one became law

For years, Missouri has been one of the country’s most aggressive testing grounds for anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. It’s a Republican-controlled state where lawmakers have repeatedly introduced bills targeting transgender youth, drag performers, school policies, and gender expression as part of the broader national culture war over LGBTQ+ rights.

This year, none of them passed.

In what advocates are calling a significant political upset, Missouri lawmakers adjourned their regular legislative session Friday without enacting any of the 58 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced during the 2026 session, according to PROMO, the state’s leading LGBTQ+ advocacy organization.

The victory comes amid an unprecedented national wave of legislation targeting LGBTQ+ people, especially transgender Americans. The American Civil Liberties Union is currently tracking 529 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in state legislatures this year, including measures restricting gender-affirming healthcare, bathroom access, drag performances, transgender student participation in sports, and LGBTQ+ visibility in schools and public life.

Related: Mississippi Republicans fail to pass trans bathroom ban and law defining sex

The proposals introduced in Missouri reflected nearly every major front in that broader legislative campaign.

One bill mirrored Kansas’s controversial anti-trans restroom restrictions. Other measures sought to remove sunset provisions from Missouri’s existing bans on gender-affirming healthcare for transgender minors and trans student athlete participation. Additional proposals targeted drag performers, classroom discussions on gender expression and diversity, and spending on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Yet by the close of the legislative session, all 58 proposals had stalled.

“This moment — this win — belongs to all LGBTQ+ Missourians and every single person who loves someone who is LGBTQ+,” Katy Erker-Lynch, executive director of PROMO, said in a statement Friday.

“A recent conversation with a parent of a trans kid reminded me of one simple truth: lawmakers don’t understand that we will never stop fighting,” Erker-Lynch added. “We will fight with everything we have to protect the rights of LGBTQ+ Missourians and their families.”

Related: Missouri Leads Nation in Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation in 2023, Says ACLU

Missouri has consistently ranked among the states introducing the largest number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills annually. Republicans hold supermajorities in both chambers of the legislature. According to PROMO, Missouri lawmakers have introduced 371 anti-LGBTQ+ bills since 2015, though only four have ultimately become law.

Advocates say Missouri’s outcome reflects years of organizing infrastructure built inside a deeply conservative state.

PROMO credited the legislative victories to coordinated lobbying efforts, testimony at hearings, direct outreach to lawmakers, and thousands of Missourians willing to publicly share personal stories about how the proposed restrictions could affect their lives and families.

The organization said more than 5,000 people participated in advocacy efforts this year.

“Despite state leaders fixating on restricting LGBTQ+ rights as their core priority year after year, Missourians have continued to make it clear that LGBTQ+ people will not be scapegoated to win political popularity,” said Shira Berkowitz, PROMO’s senior director of public policy and advocacy.

“The legislature threw everything they had at us this year,” Berkowitz said, “yet our community’s incredible power and willingness to continue showing up ensured our win.”

The Missouri outcome stands out particularly because the state has already enacted major anti-trans restrictions in recent years, including limits on gender-affirming healthcare for minors approved in 2023. Some of the failed 2026 proposals would have permanently extended those restrictions.

PROMO said Missouri joins Georgia and Kentucky this year as states where advocates successfully blocked every anti-LGBTQ+ bill introduced during the legislative session.

But LGBTQ+ advocates in Missouri say the reprieve is likely temporary.

PROMO is now shifting its attention toward defeating Missouri’s proposed Amendment 3, a ballot initiative that would repeal the state’s voter-approved reproductive rights amendment, ban most abortions, and constitutionally prohibit gender transition procedures for minors.