Missouri

....It's worth noting, though, that Billington's beliefs would be considered rank bigotry by more progressive Christians. He actively campaigned against the passage of marriage equality and once asserted that homosexuality is "killing people two to three times the rate of smoking." In 2012, he took out a newspaper ad supporting the breathtakingly dumb (and obviously unsuccessful) "Don't Say Gay" bill that sought to restrict conversations about sexual orientation in public schools.

During the hearing Tuesday, Billington repeatedly singled out the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, whose stated mission includes "challenging the entanglement of religion and government, government endorsement or promotion of religion."

The foundation has been busy in Missouri. In 2016, its complaint and threat of a lawsuit forced the Tipton school district to prohibit staff from leading prayers in school. In 2017, the nonprofit targeted a 60-foot long cross in a public park in Neosho — the city opted to sell a chunk of the park to a private entity rather than remove the enormous religious symbol.