Missouri lawmakers have branded the state’s human rights chair a hypocrite for moonlighting as a church lobbyist to testify against a bill that would protect LGBTQ+ members from discrimination—and they want him booted from the job.
On Monday, ten Democrats from the Missouri State Senate submitted a letter to Gov. Mike Parson, calling for Timothy Faber to lose his post with the Missouri Commission on Human Rights.
“We are writing to formally request your removal of Timothy Faber as Chair of the Missouri Commission on Human Rights due to his misleading of State Senators during a legislative hearing, and his lobbying for a position in direct contradiction to the mission of the Missouri Commission on Human Rights,” read the letter, obtained by The Daily Beast.
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“The mission of the Missouri Commission on Human Rights is to develop, recommend, and implement ways to prevent and eliminate discrimination and to provide fair and timely resolutions of discrimination claims through the enforcement of the Missouri Human Rights Act,” the letter continued.
The bill in question, the Missouri Nondiscrimination Act, is sponsored by Missouri’s only openly gay senator, Democrat Greg Razer, local outlet Fox 2 St. Louis reported. The bill would make it illegal to discriminate against a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity when applying for housing or financial loans for homeownership.
During the most recent Senate hearing on the bill on March 29, Faber testified against it, claiming the act set up “a host of conflicts against” a myriad of freedoms.
“The Bible does, indeed, speak of homosexuality,” Faber began after identifying himself as a minister and the legislative liaison for the Missouri Baptist Convention, a religious network of 1,800 churches in the state.
Faber said all people were created in the image of God but were “corrupted” due to sin.
“Since sin has entered the world, the image of God in man has been corrupted in all ways. Even heterosexual relationships have been corrupted because of sin. Our creative abilities, our cognitive abilities, everything about us has been corrupted by sin,” Faber said. “This bill cannot be separated from religion, and, particularly, religious liberty.”
He claimed there would be an increase in lawsuits if the bill was passed, and referenced how much of a burden that would place on the Missouri Commission for Human Rights—without acknowledging his own involvement.
“Mr. Faber testified in opposition to anti-discrimination legislation before the Senate Missouri Senate General Laws Committee,” the 10 signatories of the letter to Parson wrote. “Mr. Faber did not identify himself as Chairman of the Commission, and only confirmed his position upon direct questioning from Senators. His attempt to obfuscate his position erodes the trust legislators require from members of Missouri’s Boards and Commissions.”
During the questioning portion of his testimony Faber stated that “an employer or landlord should also have rights in how they conduct their business.” He said employers have the right to “discriminate on someone based on any number of factors.”
“While Mr. Faber has a right to express his personal views or the views of other organizations with which he may be affiliated, his decision to place these roles before his duties as Chairman makes it clear he can no longer continue in this capacity,” the signers of Monday’s letter wrote.
Faber has previously shared his controversial views pertaining to the LGBTQ+ community on social media. In March, he lauded a county in Missouri for blocking a ban on conversion therapy. Later that month, he mocked children being able to choose their gender identities. In a post from February, he said drag queens were as offensive as people dressing up in blackface.
Sen. Doug Beck, whose office sent the letter calling for Faber’s ouster, referenced Missouri’s alleged workforce shortage in a statement to The Daily Beast about the issue.
“To recruit and retain talented workers in Missouri, we need to make it clear that discrimination has no place in our state,” he said. “To help prevent discrimination, we have the Missouri Commission on Human Rights. Unfortunately, the Chair of that Commission has now publicly stated that he supports businesses being able to discriminate. Clearly, this is the wrong person to be leading the Missouri Commission on Human Rights, and that is why we have called for new leadership.”
Representatives for Faber did not immediately respond to The Daily Beast’s requests for comment Tuesday.
