KANSAS CITY, MO – Last week, a Republican member of the Missouri House of Representatives dropped a bombshell on colleagues and constituents alike, announcing in a unique way his opposition to legislation sponsored by fellow GOP lawmakers—dubbed the “don’t say gay” bill—hat would ban the discussion of sexual orientation in the state’s public schools.
“I will not lie to myself anymore about my own sexuality,” said Rep. Zach Wyatt, a first-term member of the state General Assemble. “Today I ask you to stand with me as a proud Republican, a proud veteran, and a proud gay man who wants to protect all kids.” According to the Victory Fund—which supports the recruitment and election of LGBT candidates to public office—yatt, 27, is the only openly-gay Republican member of a state legislature in the U.S.
The legislation, HB 2051, requires a ban on school curriculum, materials, or extracurricular activities in the Missouri public schools that discuss sexual orientation except in “scientific instruction concerning human reproduction.”
A former U.S. Air Force linguist who raises cattle in rural Northern Missouri, Wyatt said that he had been bullied throughout school because of a weight problem and for “not always being perceived as the most masculine of men.”
He said that the thought of “accepting” his own sexual identity was “probably the hardest thing to come to terms with. I’ve always ignored it and didn’t even think about it or talk about it.”
