Laura Burkhardt šŸ§” Profile picture
She/her ā€¢ Missouri @momsdemand volunteer ā€¢ Survivor ā€¢ Text READY to 644-33 ā€¢ Opinions my own ā€¢ Ranked 5th worst problem in MO education by STL Moms 4 Libertyā€¢
Mar 13 ā€¢ 4 tweets ā€¢ 2 min read
šŸ§µA few days ago, a video was shared of a horrific assault of a white girl (Kaylee Gain) by a black girl near her HS. Missouri Republicans dug in-blaming the tragedy on the schoolā€™s DEI efforts, pushing their school choice agenda, and claiming heartache & sympathy for the victim.

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Yesterday afternoon a 14-year-old black boy named Justin Brooks was stabbed & died 1 block from his middle school while walking home. Nothing but silence from these republicans. This is why I will never believe their ā€œcondolencesā€ or ability to care. ONLY if it fits their agenda.
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Feb 15 ā€¢ 14 tweets ā€¢ 6 min read
šŸ§µA thread of Missouri Republican lawmakerā€™s ā€œthoughts & prayersā€ following the tragic shooting at the Chiefs Super Bowl parade vs the actions they take that have gotten us here.

Hypocrisy at its finest along with countless preventable deaths, injuries, and trauma. #MoLeg Image
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Jan 8 ā€¢ 5 tweets ā€¢ 2 min read
šŸ§µMy best friend (Black woman) & I were pregnant at the same time 18 yrs ago. We both had preeclampsia, hers undiagnosed as her symptoms were written off. I was put on bed rest & hospitalized. She was told to relax. A week after she gave birth, the day my son was born, she died. 2/5 Still to this day, I blame myself. We talked multiple times a day. We were experiencing the same symptoms. How did I miss this?

Iā€™ve stayed very close with her husband & daughter from that pregnancy. A few weeks ago her daughter came over to tell me that sheā€™s pregnant.
Dec 24, 2023 ā€¢ 5 tweets ā€¢ 3 min read
šŸ§µFrancis Howell School Board President Adam Bertrand stated ā€œWith @splcenter providing a blanket call out of all š—£š—”š—„š—˜š—”š—§š—¦ š—œš—”š—©š—¢š—Ÿš—©š—˜š—— š—œš—” š—˜š——š—Øš—–š—”š—§š—œš—¢š—” as part of their hate mapā€¦ I voted to rescind.ā€

The problem is, thatā€™s a bold face lie from Bertrand. 1/4
Image ā€œMissouri Parents Involved In Educationā€ is a state chapter of a national anti-government hate group. Itā€™s listed on the hate map.

Bertrand & his supporters chose to lie to their community by stating that ALL MO parents involved in ed have been targeted as extremists. 2/4

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Dec 10, 2023 ā€¢ 7 tweets ā€¢ 3 min read
šŸ§µMissouri state rep Mitch Boggs filed a covenant marriage bill for the FOURTH year in a row. #MoLeg #HB1789 is a bill designed to keep women & children in unhealthy & unsafe marriages. The party of freedom & liberty wants to restrict oneā€™s ability to leave a dangerous marriage.
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Before couples will be considered for a dissolution of marriage, theyā€™re required to attend at least 40 hours of marital counseling over the course of two years.

Couples are forced to wait TWO years after initially filing for legal separation before dissolution is granted.
Dec 5, 2023 ā€¢ 4 tweets ā€¢ 2 min read
šŸ§µNone of us should be surprised by the bill Missouri state rep Brian Seitz (R) filed that would criminalize women for aborting non-viable pregnancies. Two sessions ago, Seitz admitted that the death penalty was on the table in cases of abortion. #MoLeg Also in Seitzā€™s 2022 bill was the provision that that would INCREASE the penalty if the abortion was performed on someone who had an ectopic pregnancy or on a person who was a victim of sex trafficking.

See thread below for more info:
Nov 10, 2023 ā€¢ 4 tweets ā€¢ 2 min read
šŸ§µA motorist was shot dead this morning in Fenton, Missouri(on Hwy 141) in a road-rage attack.

MO has no permit requirements, no bkgd check requirements on all gun sales, no min age to open carry & allows abusers to possess guns. @MomsDemand #MoLeg
stltoday.com/news/local/criā€¦ This comes exactly one month after the October 10 shooting just 7 miles away that was also the result of road-rage. Fortunately no one was killed in this horrific incident. ksdk.com/article/news/cā€¦
Sep 25, 2023 ā€¢ 4 tweets ā€¢ 1 min read
šŸ§µMissouri rolled out a tax-payer funded Training Recon System for school workers.

This simulator includes sounds of gunshots, alarms going off, kids crying, teachers screaming & a smoke machine.

Theyā€™ve chosen to do nothing to prevent guns from being brought to school. #MoLeg Image ā€œOur teachers really are the first responders of their classroom. Theyā€™re the emergency managers of the hallway.ā€

Brought to you by the folks who donā€™t trust teachers to choose books for their class.

We need to be preventative, not reactive. @MomsDemand tinyurl.com/2s3b7p4x
Sep 1, 2023 ā€¢ 5 tweets ā€¢ 4 min read
Letā€™s be clear. These parents have tried for years to get social emotional learning, leadership programs, health education & services banned from ALL schools. When their efforts failed, they switched to ā€œoperation opt-out.ā€

I donā€™t co-parent with uninformed extremists.

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Lindi Williford has been a key player in these attacks on public education. And not just in her home district. She has spread fear, anger, falsehoods, and paranoia all over the St. Charles/St. Louis region, even going so far as to take it to nationwide extremist FB groups.


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Aug 22, 2023 ā€¢ 7 tweets ā€¢ 4 min read
Missouri courts are hearing a case this week against #MoSen SB49, which bans gender affirming healthcare for many minors & adults. AG Andrew Bailey knows he has little support, as attacking trans kids isnā€™t a pressing issue for Missourians. So he reaches out to MO extremists.

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Barrett is the leader of the Missouri Gays Against Groomers Chapter. Heā€™s also the National Director of all state chapters. Barrett has reached out to all of the far right FB groups in an attempt to flood the courtroom, where minors are the plaintiffs. #MoLeg


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Jul 25, 2023 ā€¢ 7 tweets ā€¢ 4 min read
šŸ§µOn the 1 year anniversary of the Dobbs ruling, MO Right To Life (anti-abortion org) gathered outside of Planned Parenthood StL to celebrate & pray. @TravisCNews reported live, but the interesting part happened once he & his crew packed up. A threadā€¦
#MoLeg @aclu_mo 2/ Pam Fichter, former President of MO Right To Life/current chairwoman of Eastern Div lays out their plan to collude w/ MO SOS Ashcroft, Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick, & AG Bailey in an effort to keep the abortion ballot petition tied up in court and off of the November 2024 ballot. https://t.co/CQjNrvXr5jtwitter.com/i/web/status/1ā€¦

May 25, 2023 ā€¢ 9 tweets ā€¢ 5 min read
šŸ§µThis is pure hatred & bigotry. The St. Charles hate group wants to control every move you make. You must fit into their tiny box. If not, youā€™re the next target.

Iā€™m extremely hopeful that the community will show up at the Kathryn Linnemann branch at @StChLibrary tomorrow. ImageImage Letā€™s dissect this nonsense.

šŸ“Œ Show me the rule that says only women can wear makeup.

šŸ“Œ Does the eyeshadow color matter? Is that the issue?

šŸ“Œ Wearing nail polish, makeup, earrings & a goatee is absolutely not drag. Educate yourself, Rachel. Image
May 24, 2023 ā€¢ 6 tweets ā€¢ 4 min read
What. The. Fuck. twitter.com/i/web/status/1ā€¦ Image Iā€™ll add that regardless of how much I hate this, I have no intention of buying a bunch of them and shooting them in a field or smacking them with a baseball bat on the lawn of the state Capitol (when I should be working). So thereā€™s that.
Apr 12, 2023 ā€¢ 5 tweets ā€¢ 2 min read
šŸ§µMissouri Senator Mike Moon (bigot & pervert) presented #SB49 last night (bans healthcare for trans youth) under the guise of ā€œprotecting children.ā€

Representative @PeterforMO called out the hypocrisy of Moonā€™s vote against not allowing 12-year-olds to marry adults. #MoLeg This is the roll call vote on the bill raising the minimum age to marry in Missouri. While this vote took place in 2018, there are still a handful of ā€œnoā€ votes that are still members of #MoLeg . A few names in particular jumped out at meā€¦
Apr 10, 2023 ā€¢ 4 tweets ā€¢ 2 min read
predatory
predĀ· aĀ· toĀ· ry

ā€¢inclined or intended to injure or exploit others for personal gain or profit Predatory.


Apr 9, 2023 ā€¢ 5 tweets ā€¢ 2 min read
Heading over to visit w/ family for Easter, & because I canā€™t let a family function go by w/o bringing up #MoLeg, I made this graphic & QR code so every person in attendance can easily submit testimony opposing anti-trans #SB39 & #SB49. Please share at your gatherings as well. From @PROMOMissouri: On Tuesday, April 11 at 4:30 p.m., the MO House General Laws committee will hold a public hearing for a transgender athlete ban (SB39) and a transgender healthcare ban (SB49). #MoLeg
Apr 3, 2023 ā€¢ 5 tweets ā€¢ 4 min read
šŸ§µBad faith actors in @rockwoodschools have spent a lot of time, money & energy defaming the Rockwood NEA and in turn, their members (70%+ Rockwood educators). The 3 RNEA endorsed candidates have continually kept their focus on the students & building upon an excellent district.


Now letā€™s talk about whoā€™s funding all of the attack ads directed at educator-endorsed candidates. Missouri First PAC, which is a dark money PAC who is funneling money through their 501c4 (nonprofit) Freedom Principle MO, is responsible for these ads.


Mar 31, 2023 ā€¢ 4 tweets ā€¢ 2 min read
šŸ§µSpoiler alert:

It is scripted. Every red state gets the same bills placed in their laps. It then gets a sponsor with an ā€œRā€ next to their name. From there, it moves through the legislature w/o a single ā€œayeā€ vote even understanding what they just voted for. #MoLeg Donā€™t take my word for it, listen to MO Representative Justin Sparks (R) speak on #HB1165, a Republican sponsored bill. He lays it all out.

ā€œThis bill came out of nowhere. I still donā€™t know who is the driving force behind this. Still trying to figure it out, we all are.ā€
Mar 30, 2023 ā€¢ 5 tweets ā€¢ 5 min read
Last month, my local library (@SLCL) hosted MO GOP Representatives @benKeath, @missouri4philip, Holly Jones, & Justin Sparks for a township meeting. This evening theyā€™re hosting Rep Keathley again.

Today, all 4 of those Representatives voted to defund Missouri libraries. #MoLeg I would strongly encourage all of you to contact these West St. Louis County Representatives and demand answers. Why are they cutting all state funding? Why is their township hosting taxpayer-funded events there still? Why are they too cowardly to stand up against this? #MoLeg
Mar 30, 2023 ā€¢ 4 tweets ā€¢ 5 min read
šŸ§µYesterday at the Missouri Capitol, pride was loud. There were tears of joy, tears of sadness, there was hope, anger, love, family, power, community, compassion, organizing, solidarity, learning, frustrationā€¦ every emotion was felt. But we felt it together. #MoLeg The MO GOP and the lies, hate, and fear they spread is loud, but their view of the world isnā€™t reality. They know this. Weā€™re moving forward, whether they want to join us or not. This is why theyā€™re spiraling. This is why they hid inside that building all day. #MoLeg twitter.com/i/web/status/1ā€¦
Mar 20, 2023 ā€¢ 6 tweets ā€¢ 4 min read
As #MoLeg returns from spring break and have vowed to undermine doctors & parents by banning gender-affirming care, I canā€™t stop thinking about this. MO state rep Justin Sparks is sponsoring #HB540, which bans trans healthcare. Listen to what he said at his church recently. twitter.com/i/web/status/1ā€¦ Thereā€™s been a lot of discussion surrounding the timing of the whistleblower complaint and these anti-trans bills ā€œcoincidentallyā€ getting a hearing at the same time.

Listen again. Rep. Sparks calls it ā€œdivineā€ and says ā€œthe lord placed the bill in his lap. #MoLeg twitter.com/i/web/status/1ā€¦