Missouri school employees would be banned from talking about gender and sexual orientation under a proposal heard by a Senate committee Tuesday morning. Senate Bill 134, put forward by Sen. Mike Moon of Ash Grove, would ban all discussions in K-12 schools relating to gender identity and sexual orientation, making exceptions only for licensed mental health providers who have permission from a student’s parent or guardian. Under the bill, students, teachers, counselors, nurses and other school staff would be barred from discussing a wide range of LGBTQ+ issues both within the classroom setting and in informal situations. Moon’s legislation goes a step further than a Florida law that made national headlines with its prohibition against including gender identity and sexual orientation in curriculum for kindergarten through third grade. The proposed Missouri bill, as currently written, would include all grade levels through high school. It does not outline specific penalties for violating the law.