HB 1041 threatens trans rights Recent Indiana bill goes against gender equality, puts youths in crisis Emerson Elledge
A
new bill, laced in the odor of transphobia under the pretense of feminism and gender equality, was recently introduced to the Indiana State House of Representatives. With every step that the bill progresses, more and more of the masterpiece of equality is stomped on by the very bill that pledges to enhance it. HB 1041 was recently introduced by Rep. Michelle Davis of District 58, and as of March 7th, is on its way to Governor Holcomb's desk for approval. The bill introduces a complete ban on allowing maleto-female (MTF) individuals from competing on high school sports teams with cisgender females, but still allows femaleto-male (FTM) individuals, as well as cisgender females, to compete on high school sports teams consisting of cisgender males. Not only is this bill displaying blatant transphobia with the façade of instituting athletic fairness, the so-called gender equality-based motion in question already has established guidelines under the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA). The current IHSAA guidelines for transgender individuals require the athletes to have “completed” their gender transition to even be considered for competing on the opposite team from their assigned gender at birth. A “complete” transition is rather
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According to Metro Health, ''there are two types of hormone therapy: feminizing hormones (estrogen) and masculinizing hormones (testosterone).''.
Cisgender is defined by Oxford Dictionary as ''relating to a person whose sense of personal identity and gender corresponds with their birth sex.''
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demanding, as well as being subjective to an individual’s wish. They require MTF people to have both completed hormone therapy as well as surgical reassignment, in addition to requiring a “sufficient length of time to occur such as to minimize gender‐related advantages.” The IHSAA requires hormone therapy, top surgery, bottom surgery and legal recognition of an athlete's transition, the decision about how to transition is influenced by many factors. For all trans people under 18, every medical step of their transition must be approved by their parents. Some individuals may not experience top and/ or bottom gender dysphoria, which is defined by the Mayo Clinic as “the feeling of discomfort or distress that might occur in people whose gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth or sex-related physical characteristics,” so the respective surgeries to remove the dysphoria would just be an added expense. Additionally, every aspect of transitioning is costly and can take months, if not years, to gain approval. If one were to immediately start the process of a socalled “complete transition” immediately after the completion of puberty, the process could realistically take ten years, if not longer which would be long after the person could have ever played on a team that affirms their gender.
This leaves trans athletes with the dilemma of losing the sport they love by transitioning to affirm their gender, or increasing their dysphoria by staying on a team that they may feel unsafe on. A study done by the Nottingham Center for Dysphoria examined eight reports and 31 different sport policies with the purpose of figuring out if there was any true advantage . The study discovered that “there is no direct or consistent research suggesting transgender female individuals (or male individuals) have an athletic advantage at any stage of their transition.” Even if this study was disregarded, the current restrictions on transgender people make the authors of HB 1041’s alleged primary concern, the safety and fairness for cisgender females, completely nonsensical. Title IX was passed in the 1970s with the goal of allowing girls to play in sports with boys. Its passage was seen as a sign for progress in the terms of gender equality. With this law passed, it is brought into question on why allowing transgender kids to play on sports teams has brought so much uproar. The process of transitioning is mentally taxing and draining enough, so fully grown, intelligent adults should not add to this stress. The lives of trans kids are already changed and made different from their peers just because of who they are. Trans kids deserve the right and the ability to play sports with their peers.
March 2022
