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Andrew Koenig #transphobia pitch.com

A Missouri state senator reduced children who identify as another gender to an episode of Kids Say the Darndest Things.

On Tuesday, the Senate's education committee heard testimony on Senate Bill 98, which would prevent children in public schools from using bathrooms and locker rooms that don't correspond to their "biological sex."

The bill is opposed by groups like PROMO, a statewide LGBT organization. Elizabeth Fuchs, PROMO's public policy manager, warned the committee that the bill puts transgender students at increased risk for harassment, bullying and violence.

After Fuchs testified, state Sen. Andrew Koenig, a Republican who represents St. Louis County, spoke. Koenig noted that he is a father as well as a foster care parent.

“Kids say funny things," Koenig said. "‘I want to be a girl or I want to be a dog.’ Who knows what they’ll say? But that doesn’t mean I turn around and try to cultivate that and say, ‘Yes, you can be a dog.’"

He added: “At the age of 5, 6, 7, is it appropriate to cultivate something that they genetically are not?”