LGBTQ rights challenged

Indiana General Assembly addresses Bill 1608, limits freedoms of LGBTQ students and teachers

By Kassandra Darnell EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

The Indiana State House Education Committee met on Feb. 20 to hear constituent testimony and make amendments to House Bill 1608: Human Sexuality Instruction. The bill states that a school, an employee or staff member of a school or a thirdparty vendor cannot teach students from kindergarten through third grade about human sexuality, according to the bill's text. HB 1608 defines a school as a public or charter school, a laboratory school, the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and the Indiana School for the Deaf.

The amendments to the bill on Feb. 20 allow teachers to respond to student questions about topics related to human sexuality. The bill also states that teachers may only refer to students using a name, title, pronoun or other identifiers inconsistent with the student’s sex if the student’s parents make a request for it in writing at the beginning of the school year. Students that are adults or emancipated minors may also make this request for themselves. Additionally, this bill would require schools to notify parents if students request to be referred to in ways that are inconsistent with their sex, and specifies that schools may not

OPINION SPORTS FEATURE ENTERTAINMENT discipline teachers or staff if they refer to a student using an identifier that is consistent with their legal name, according to the bill’s text.

In response to this bill, the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana called for Hoosiers to “Pack the Statehouse” and gather outside of the committee chamber beginning at 7:20 a.m. on Feb. 20 while the committee was in session, according to the ACLU Indiana website. As hundreds of people stood outside the chamber holding up signs provided by the ACLU Indiana to show their support for the LGBTQ community—which would be predominantly affected by the bill, the crowd’s yells echoed up and down the halls of the Indiana Statehouse. The chamber gallery was full as well and the gathering could be heard from inside the chamber. The crowd cycled through several rally chants, including: “We say gay,” and “Hey, hey, ho, ho, transphobia has got to go.”

Natalie Morehouse is an Indianapolis resident, former teacher and part of the LGBTQ community. She stood amongst fellow protesters because she said that when she was teaching, she saw how important it was for students to have affirming teachers, spaces and schools. Morehouse said this bill breaks her heart because it is actively putting LGBTQ youth in harm’s way.

“Kids know who they are, they know how they feel, they know what’s going on in their lives,” Morehouse said. “And so when we allow them to have spaces and affirming literature and affirming discussion areas, they’re much safer. They’re much less likely to commit suicide. They’re much more likely to do well in school, feel successful, and have high self-esteem…. I would say, to be completely blunt and honest, that they are signing the death certificates of many queer and trans youth in Indiana.”

The bill passed through the House of Representatives and into the Senate with a 65-29 vote after its third reading on Feb. 23, according to the Indiana General Assembly’s website. The first reading by the Senate Education and Career Development Committee was held on March 6, and there was no result as of Reflector press time. Democrat Sen. J.D. Ford is the ranking minority member on the committee, according to the official list of committee members. Ford is also the first and only current openly LGBTQ member of the Indiana General Assembly, according to his website, and was outside of the Statehouse shaking hands and greeting protesters waiting to enter the Statehouse the morning of Feb. 20. Despite the amendments, Ford said his opinion is that it is a terrible bill, especially as someone that has struggled with his own sexual identity.

Now, proponents of the bill are saying we shouldn't even be having these conversations from Kindergarten to third grade, and in what we heard from testimonials and from the professionals is that this really isn't happening,” Ford said. “This really, to me, is a solution in search of a problem.” possibility some children may mention in class that they have two mothers or two fathers, which could result in classroom discussions regarding samesex parents. He said he thinks the main issue with the bill is that it perpetuates certain ideas of what people think a family should be. Ultimately, Ford said he does not think this bill rises to 3, 8 2 4, 5 6 7

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