Indiana governor signs bills targeting LGBTQ students

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s governor on Thursday signed a bill that will require schools to notify a parent if a student requests a name or pronoun change at school, one of the final bills approved in a legislative session that had targeted LGBTQ+ people in the state, especially students. Indiana’s name and pronouns law, which goes into effect July 1, will require school officials to provide written notification to a child’s parent or guardian within five business days of the child asking to be called a different “pronoun, title, or word,” according to the bill. “I also just believe its commonsense that sex education should not be taught in prekindergarten through third grade.” GOP bill author Rep. Michelle Davis said the law will “ensure Hoosier parents are in the driver’s seat when it comes to introducing sensitive topics to their kids.” “I continue to hear from constituents who are concerned about what their kids are being taught in the classroom, and that they’re being left out of important discussions with their children,” she said in a statement. “This new law will also increase transparency by requiring that parents be notified if their child is struggling with their gender identity at school.” Holcomb also signed into law on Thursday a bill that could make it easier to ban books from public school libraries, staff at which would be required by July 1 to publicly post a list of books they offer and provide a complaints process for community members. Holcomb said he was “happy that these decisions will continue to take place at the local level.” The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana said, however, laws like these only serve to “control what youth can and cannot read, what they can and cannot learn, and — most troublingly — who they can and cannot be.” “Trans youth thrive when they are affirmed in their gender identity, which includes being called by a name and pronouns that reflect who they are,” said Katie Blair, ACLU of Indiana advocacy and public policy director.