The term “gender” would be replaced with “biological sex” in all Indiana laws concerning sex discrimination, benefits and services allocated based on sex under a new Indiana House bill.
House Bill 1291, which was introduced Jan. 9 by Rep. Chris Judy, R-Fort Wayne, would also change the definitions of female, male and sex. Under the new bill, a female would be defined as someone with a reproductive system that, excluding a verified genetic sex development disorder, produces ova at some point. A male, conversely, would be defined as a person with a reproductive system that produces sperm at some point, excluding a genetic sex development disorder. The definition of sex under the bill would exclude gender identity.
Rep. Judy did not respond to requests for comment before the time of publication.
Last April, Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a bill that banned gender-affirming care, including puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy and certain surgeries, for people under 18. In May of last year, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a bill that defined “sex” as strictly “male” or “female” into law. This limited definition, some experts believe could exclude LGBTQ+ people from protections against sex discrimination.
Richard Brandon-Friedman, an assistant professor of social work at IU who works with LGBTQ+ youth and their families as a clinical social worker. Brandon-Friedman said he thinks House Bill 1291 is seeking to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. For example, he said, he doesn’t see why someone’s gender or sex would matter in places like the polls, where IDs matching someone’s gender identity rather than biological sex wouldn’t matter.
The bill will likely raise difficulties, Friedman said, because many people already differentiate between sex and gender. He pointed to how IU allows students to choose their gender when applying for housing, and said he worries the bill could create confusion between state policy and policies at individual institutions.
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Brandon-Friedman said the bill is a misguided attempt to attack and erase the transgender community by forcing people into boxes according to their biological sex.
“When I see things that are trying to make such a strong distinction in an area that really doesn’t seem to matter, then to me that says it’s more about a perception,” he said. “It’s more about a statement of trying to erase the transgender community, remove recognition of the transgender community.”
Xan Smith, a Ph.D. student in the Media School who is trans masculine and uses they/he pronouns, said the bill itself is confusing to navigate as a transgender person because the legislature says that sex will be based on genitalia, which no one would be checking.
“They're making all these rules based on, it's going to be your organs and your genetics, but no one's actually testing that,” Smith said. “So really, how it's going to act out is just your gender assigned at birth.”
One issue Smith said they focused on was personal identification, as the bill would require IDs or other documents where someone states their gender to be replaced with biological sex. Smith hasn't changed their ID for reasons related to medical treatment and said they can continue to get by because of their privilege, because as an adult they don’t have to show their ID to everyone. More and more, Smith said, they are passing as a man and people don’t bother them.
“This law is not going to affect trans men and people that pass in both directions as much because we have the benefit of not being detected,” Smith said.
Smith said it’s difficult to navigate their own safety in Indiana but wants to continue to live in the state.
“Right now it feels like it's just a waiting game, especially with these laws,” Smith said.
One thing that’s troubling about the bill, Smith said, is that it feels like the legislature is trying to attack transgender women.
“From my interpretation, it feels like they're just wanting to make sure that trans women can't get protections that cis women get, which is sad because they're deserving of that as well,” Smith said.
Lazuli Davis is also a Ph.D. student in the Media School. As a trans woman living in Indiana, she said she thinks the bill serves no true purpose and will ultimately only motivate transgender people to leave the state due to fear of being in danger or living under unjust policies.
“It will lead trans people to hurt themselves and to kill themselves,” Davis said. “We face so much hatred and prejudice just in our day-to-day lives.”
Davis said she transitioned recently and said only since has she begun to enjoy living. But she worries about legislation that would take away some of the freedoms and respect she has.
“I get to be alive for the first time,” she said. “I get to feel joy for the first time. I get to be a human for the first time and some people really hate that for me.”
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House Bill 1291 requires a person’s biological sex to be present on their driver’s license — not the gender with which they identify.
“Forcing a transgender person to have an inaccurate gender marker on their driver’s license, it is exposing them to strangers that may or may not be safe people to be exposed to, that may or may not want to hurt them,” Davis said. “It only serves to endanger and forcibly out transgender people.”
No action has been taken on House Bill 1291 since Jan. 9, when it received a first reading and was referred to the House Judiciary Committee. Even if the bill does not pass, she said, its existence still reinforces the belief that transgender lives are worthless.
Davis said while many people don’t care about her transgender identity, they also don’t understand.
“I don’t understand lots of things either,” she said. “But the existence of this kind of legislation makes people that don’t understand afraid to empathize, because it’s othering. That’s what we need most, is other people being willing to just try empathizing with us, to just see how their own experiences may or may not overlap with the transgender experience.”
She said the bill incentivizes people to make no effort to understand.
“That further perpetuates and allows just the creation of these bills,” Davis said. “Even if every single one fails, there’s still an incentive to create more, and I think that’s just cruel.”
