Makoski urges adults, SPS board to lead children 'down the moral path' on gender identity

Springfield school board member Steve Makoski said he has paid a price for sharing his view on gender identity — namely that there are only two genders, male and female.

On a radio show last week, Makoski said he has repeatedly been targeted and called names. Earlier this year, he said, he was the victim of online harassment in the form of doxxing, the malicious posting of personal information including a home address, email or cell phone.

"Ever since this type of topic has come up, I've had many people actually attack me — verbally attack me. I've got about 16 or 17 different names," he said, listing what he has been called. "I'm a homophobe, I'm a racist, all type of things like that, just because I don't accept their way. If you don't go their way, they're going to come after you."

He added: "I've been doxxed. I've been threatened. My family has been threatened."

Last week, as guest host of the Elijah Haahr Show on KWTO, Makoski said he is not going to back down. During a 50-minute segment titled "Save the Children," Makoski reiterated and expanded upon comments he made during an Oct. 24 school board meeting.

"Our Lord God Almighty, our creator, made you to be a male or a female and anybody trying to attempt to change that, it is just impossible. It's against God's will, is the way I look at it," he said on air. "Our Lord has placed us here on Earth, us adults, to be able to take care of our children and stop them from going down this path of immorality."

The school district's policies involving transgender students have been in the spotlight after the U.S. Department of Agriculture asked districts that participate in the federal school lunch program to revise their anti-discrimination policy to add "gender identity and sexual orientation" to the list of reasons why a student cannot be denied a meal.

Makoski and board members Kelly Byrne and Maryam Mohammadkhani opposed the change and they — along with board vice president Scott Crise, who said he needed more time — voted during the Oct. 24 meeting to postpone a decision indefinitely.

Board president Danielle Kincaid and members Judy Brunner and Shurita Thomas-Tate spoke in favor of making the change.

Minutes before that meeting, the superintendent received a letter from the Missouri Attorney General in opposition to the proposed change. A growing number of districts, including Nixa and Republic, have voted to revise the policy as requested by the USDA.

Crise said he has finished his research into the proposed change and is ready to vote. He asked for the issue to be placed on the Nov. 14 board agenda.

"Help these kids go down the moral path"

Early in the radio show, Makoski quoted from the biblical book of Ephesians about the responsibility parents have to train their children to follow God.

Makoski did not offer specific examples but said children in the Springfield area are attending drag shows and have been exposed to "subliminal messages" from different groups — he did not say which ones — to "lead our kids down this path of gender affirmation."

"If you have somebody that wants to be another sex and you know that they're not of the other sex, to me, my faith tells me that I would be affirming what they want if I would actually call them by the name that they decide that they want to be called," he said. "I find it very difficult for me to do that. I try to stay away from that altogether."

Makoski was joined on the radio show by state Sen. Mike Moon, a Republican from Ash Grove, who was behind a new state law banning transgender youth from receiving gender-affirming medication or surgery.

"Gender dysphoria simply means you are dissatisfied with your sex," Moon said. "That is understandable but don't make a drastic decision at a young age that is not going to be (reversible)."

According to the American Psychiatric Association, gender dysphoria occurs when there is a conflict between the sex a person was assigned at birth and the gender with which the person identifies.

Speaking to the radio audience, Makoski said: "I know some of you have children that may be in this situation and I pray for you and I hope that you can get some care and some help and guide that student, the daughter and son, down the right path."

He said there has been a push at the local, state and national level to be accepting of "gender identity and sexual orientation" that falls outside of traditional roles.

"I've experienced it, even on the Board of Education, about sexual orientation and gender identity that 'I'm going to cram it down your throat. You have to accept it. You don't have to like it but you have to accept it.' It's wrong," he said.

Makoski encouraged listeners to keep tabs on what is happening locally and vote in the school board election April 2, when three members will be chosen. Makoski's three-year term runs through 2025 so he was not speaking about his seat.

"Learn what is happening within our community," he said. "Help save or protect our kids and how we do that is we elect people to the (city) council. We elect people to the Board of Education and we help these kids go down the moral path."

More: On radio, SPS board member talks gender identity, Pride flags, Safe Space stickers

On the show, Makoski and Moon discussed their opposition to transgender athletes competing on any team that does not correspond with the gender they were assigned at birth.

They also discussed the topic of "furries," a widely debunked myth circulating nationally about children dressing up as animals, going to school, saying they identify as an animal and asking for litter boxes.

"I just can't understand how it is that we can lead kids down to believe that they be a dog or they can be a cat or they can meow. You can have kitty litter in a bathroom," Makoski said on the show. "I'm not saying that is what we have in Springfield Public Schools — because you know I'm on the Board of Education for that — I'm just saying in the area there are schools that have this and it is ridiculous."

Claudette Riley covers education for the News-Leader. Email tips and story ideas to criley@news-leader.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Makoski says adults, SPS board must lead kids 'down the moral path'