“For nine years, various Democrats have filed a bill in the Legislature that would add “sexual orientation” to Missouri’s nondiscrimination act. Until Monday evening, the bill had never had a House hearing. But Monday, Rep. Stephen Webber, D-Columbia, presented his bill to the House committee on urban affairs and urged lawmakers to take “one step at a time” in advancing civil rights protections to gays.”

• 3/22/10: St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Gay Discrimination Measure Advances in Missouri House