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St. Louis Mother Raises Funds To Escape Anti-Trans Legislation | St. Louis Metro News | St. Louis

Published

2 years ago

June 2, 2023

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click to enlarge Courtesy Jennifer Harris Dault Jennifer Harris Dault (second from left) and her family plan to relocate to New York because of the anti-trans legislation recently passed in Missouri.
Following the recent slew of anti-trans laws passing through the Missouri legislature, parents of trans children are beginning to seek refuge out of state. One such is Jennifer Harris Dault, the mother of an eight-year-old transgender child in St. Louis, who this week raised funds so that her family can seek refuge in New York.

In a GoFundMe post created four days ago, Harris Dault asked for funds to aid in moving expenses as she and her husband look for new jobs. The fundraiser surpassed its $4,000 goal by more than $800 on Friday.

The Harris Dault family’s move reflects a larger, nationwide migration of trans individuals who are relocating from their home states to areas in which they feel supported.

With 48 anti-LGBTQ+ bills circulating within its legislature, Missouri is second only to Texas in the number of proposed bills targeting trans individuals, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. In the last couple months, Missouri lawmakers passed bills banning gender-affirming care for minors and barring transgender athletes from participating on school sports teams that align with their gender identity.

Harris Dault recalls the discussion when she and her husband explained to their daughter in simple terms what these bills meant for her. While her daughter does not fully understand the implications of the bills, she wants to play sports, and it has been “really hard” for her to not participate, Harris Dault said.

“These are really the first people that have had a problem with who she is,” Harris Dault said. “Her school has accepted her. We’ve accepted her. Everyone in her life loves her for who she is, and then these people that she hasn’t met are making rules saying that she can’t participate in ordinary kid stuff.”

In the U.S., trans and nonbinary youth experience high rates of depression, anxiety and suicide, according to a Trevor Project study from December. Gender-affirming care hugely reduces depression and suicide risk among these youths, according to a 2022 study published in JAMA.

Following the GoFundMe post, Harris Dault has received many messages from people in states such as Texas and Florida who are also planning to move.

“Everyone is talking about, ‘At what point do we go?’” she said. “It’s a scary time in the trans community.”

Harris Dault described the response to the GoFundMe as “overwhelming,” noting the quantity of positive and negative feedback she received. Most notably, she felt “amazed” that most of the donations came from strangers.

“That has been just shocking to see just how many people are supporting [us] when they don’t actually know our family,” Harris Dault said.

Simultaneously, Harris Dault has also received numerous messages accusing her of forcing her child to get surgery with the donations, she said.

“It’s always hard to get messages continuing to call you a child abuser and a groomer and a pedophile, all for following every major medical and psychological association in the United States’ best care practices,” Harris Dault said. “All we’ve done is follow the advice of our pediatrician. … [The criticism] is not new, but it always hurts.”

As an outspoken advocate of LGBTQ+ rights, Harris Dault hopes the public sees the humanity of trans individuals and families.

“We need people to see what our families really look like,” she said. “My eight-year-old is just a kid. She loves playing with her friends. She does all the typical kid things.”

While she recognizes that the critiques of strangers do not matter, Harris Dault also described how the backlash her family receives is materializing into the very law forcing her family to move.

“We don’t want to leave,” she said. “This is our home, this is our community. We love St. Louis, and we feel perfectly safe in St. Louis. … If it wasn’t for the state legislature, we would be staying here, and this would continue to be our home.”

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword.

Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate.

The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault.

The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade.

This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.

As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.

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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection.

“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”

He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”

The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”

Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”

The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.

Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”

In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery.

“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.”

Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”

Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings.

“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.

Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)

One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said.

Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.

“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”

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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

Published

1 year ago

May 21, 2024

Natural Bridge

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.

The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release.

The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.

The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.

To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/

“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”

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