Chappell Roan's Uncle Targets Gender-Affirming Care in Missouri: 'We're in a Total Reassessment'

Republican Missouri Representative Darin Chappell, the uncle of singer Chappell Roan, has become the state House majority leader while backing restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors.

Chappell, who represents District 137 in Greene County, has said he supports Amendment 3, a measure that would have banned abortion and written limits on transgender minors' medical care into the Missouri Constitution.

His selection as majority leader follows midterm elections in which Democrats flipped 16 House seats, ending 14 years of Republican supermajorities and reducing the size of the GOP caucus he will lead.

A Conservative Reset

'We're in a total reassessment,' Chappell told the Missouri Independent. 'If we need to change course on specific issues, we will.'

Darin Chappell is a Republican lawmaker who has campaigned against abortion access, gun control and the teaching of critical race theory in schools. He previously co-sponsored legislation aimed at blocking public funding for abortion providers.

He was first elected to the Missouri House in 2022. Before entering politics, he served as city administrator for Chillicothe, Bolivar and Seymour, taught at Missouri State University and served in the Navy and Army Reserves.

Chappell is the uncle of pop singer Chappell Roan, whose real name is Kayleigh Rose Amstutz. Roan has been a vocal advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and has publicly criticised both major US parties.

Gender-Affirming Care Debate

In an interview with OzarksPublicTV last month, Chappell was asked how he would vote on Amendment 3. 'I will be supporting Amendment 3,' he said, before addressing gender-affirming care.

'Although the gender-affirming care is dealt with in current law,' he said, 'that law is upheld by the Supreme Court before the question of Article 1, Section 36 was taken into account.'

Chappell said voters needed to understand that the measure would protect children from 'various hormone therapies'. He said Amendment 3 should be supported and that the number of abortions needed to be reduced.

Missouri voters rejected Amendment 3, with opposition exceeding 55 per cent of the vote.

The vote does not change Missouri's existing restrictions. The state enacted limits on transition-related care for minors in 2023, and its ban on gender-transition surgeries has no expiry date. Restrictions on puberty blockers and hormone therapy are due to expire in August 2027.

Petitions and Power

Chappell also wants to make citizen-led constitutional changes harder to pass. He backed raising the requirements for collecting petition signatures after nearly 80 per cent of voters rejected Amendment 4 in August.

He argued that people sometimes sign petitions without properly understanding them because they do not want to seem rude. He also said some canvassers give false information to persuade people to sign.

Chappell said petitions could reach the ballot and allow wealthy individuals and groups from outside Missouri, or even other countries, to spend heavily on spreading what he described as false information.

Supporters of Missouri's current petition rules say they provide a way for voters to bypass legislators and put issues directly on the ballot. Critics contend that changes like those backed by Chappell would make it more difficult to amend the state constitution through citizen initiatives.