SUPPORT SB 354: Protects parental rights to information concerning their children

Summary

Senate Bill 354 requires public schools and charter schools in Indiana to inform parents if their child is struggling with issues related to gender identity, as long as the child is an unemancipated minor. If a student discloses information to a school staff member regarding their gender identity or expression, the staff member is required to inform the school of the disclosure, and the school is then required to inform the child’s parents. Such a disclosure by a student could include a change or desire to change their name, attire, or pronouns in a way that is inconsistent with their biological sex. The bill also addresses other matters related to the accreditation and recognition process for schools in the state.

Analysis

Parents, not teachers and not the government, are best suited to make decisions regarding their child’s upbringing. In order to do this, parents must have the right to any information about their child’s life, particularly sensitive information such as gender identity. Unfortunately, it is becoming all too common for schools to aid children in concealing important personal details from their parents. Indiana, despite being a conservative state, is not immune to this problem. 

The Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation in north-central Indiana has a policy unilaterally allowing children to change their preferred name and gender identity without parental consent. School corporations with “gender support plans” for students include Carmel Clay, Hamilton Southeastern, Indianapolis Public Schools, and Noblesville. Also, it is not uncommon for schools to actively conceal information from parents and for staff to be instructed not to inform parents if they learn of a student questioning their gender. This trend is dangerous for Indiana. Parents send their children to school to be educated, not to be raised. Personal matters of identity are the rightful territory of parents, and must continue to be treated so by the law, not handed over to teachers, counselors, and school administrators.

Conclusion

Too many schools and school employees are helping establish an unhealthy paradigm where students come to see their very own parents as the enemy. Concealing information from parents implies that they don’t have a right to know or can’t be trusted with what is going on in their childrens’ lives. It assumes not that parents are there to protect their children, but that children need to be protected from their parents. This is a reversal of everything that is so necessary about the parent-child relationship. When children are struggling to understand their identity and their place in the world, parents more than anyone else have the ability and the responsibility to offer wisdom and guidance. Making sure that personal information about a students’ well being is efficiently and honestly communicated from schools to parents will ensure that Hoosier parents can continue to direct their children in truth and love.

IFI supports SB 354.

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SUPPORT HB 1407: Protecting parents’ rights over their own children

Summary

House Bill 1407 would elevate parental rights to a fundamental right. It makes clear that parents have a right to direct the upbringing, education, health care, and mental health of their child, and that the government of Indiana may not interfere. The only exceptions that allow government involvement are legitimate abuse and neglect. The bill clarifies several key areas that are not appropriate reasons for government involvement. These include a parent raising a child according to the child’s biological sex and not allowing their child to receive medical care or counseling that affirms a child’s gender identity when that identity is not in-line with the child’s biological sex. The bill also clarifies that a child may not be removed from their parents’ custody if the parents are fit guardians and do not consent to the removal. It also provides means of legal recourse for parents whose rights are violated under the standards the bill sets forth.

Analysis

In an age where gender confusion is rampant, the Indiana government must protect parents’ rights to keep their children safe. Unfortunately, as the story of the Cox Family shows, our state government has been doing the opposite. Jeremy and Mary Cox are the proud parents of seven children, one of whom was removed from their home when they refused to acknowledge his gender identity. When their son began identifying as female, Jeremy and Mary continued to remind him of the truth that he was a boy. They did not adopt a “gender-affirming approach,” as supporters of transgender ideology insist on, but stood by their belief that God creates everyone male or female and that lying to their son about his gender would only make matters worse. 

Outrageously, the Indiana Department of Child Services removed Jeremy and Mary’s son from their custody, only allowing very limited visitation hours where they were not even allowed to discuss gender identity with their own child. Unfortunately, he has since reached the age of 18 and no longer sees his parents. The Indiana government allowed this to happen, and several harmful court rulings on the case only hurt parental rights even more. Indiana must reverse course fast, affirming that parents, not the state, know what is best for children.

Conclusion

Transgender ideology has found its way into all levels of society, and government agencies are no exception, even in a conservative state like Indiana. From medical professionals to government bureaucrats, too many people with power believe that children can change their gender at will. Thankfully, Hoosier parents know better. With the state against them, however, a parent may find themselves unable to make decisions regarding their child’s own upbringing in critical areas like health care and personal identity. The Cox Family did everything they could to raise their son with truth and love, but the Indiana government had other plans. This injustice should never be allowed to happen in the Hoosier State again. Parental rights must be designated as fundamental rights.

IFI supports HB 1407.

TAKE ACTION: Click here to contact your State Senator to support HB 1407

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SUPPORT HB 1220/SB 480: Guarding minors against transgender surgeries and medications

Summary

House Bill 1220 and Senate Bill 480 would prevent physicians and other practitioners from performing experimental gender transition procedures on minors. This includes surgeries to alter one’s sex and the provision of hormone blockers to slow down puberty. They also prohibit the supplying of cross-sex hormones to minors, such as testosterone to biological females and estrogen to biological males. The bills include exceptions for individuals with certain medically verifiable sex development disorders. The bills also lay out means of recourse for individuals who are harmed by any violations of the bills’ statutes, and also establish methods of discipline for practitioners who violate the bills.

Analysis

We live in an age where children are extremely confused over identity, with gender being one of the most difficult areas. More than ever, children are exposed to ideologies claiming that you can be whatever gender you want and that embracing your “true gender identity” is the key to happiness. For kids struggling increasingly with anxiety and loneliness, this can be a very appealing message at first, often earning them approval from peers at school and on social media. Indeed many have bought in, with Americans ages 13-17 nearly three-times as likely to identify as transgender than those 18 and older according to a 2022 Williams Institute study.

Too many children are falling victim to the pain-filled path of gender transitioning. Equally horrifying is the number of adults, people who kids should be able to trust, facilitating this trend. Many of them even stand to profit off of the confusion of children, as the trangender health care industry is only increasing in prominence. Whether it be from a teacher, a counselor, or a doctor, children who even hint at having questions about gender are being lied to that a social and medical transition will solve their problems, when in fact it will only make them much worse.

Conclusion

Children having access to irreversible surgeries and medications is extremely dangerous, with risks of cancer, osteoporosis, loss of sexual function, and a myriad of other health problems all being present. It is important to remember that about 70% of minors who suffer from gender dysphoria end up outgrowing the problem by their adult years, according to the 2020 book Irreversible Damage by Abigail Shrier. Preventing physicians from providing “gender-affirming” procedures to minors is a critical step in the process of supporting Hoosier children. It is in line with common sense, science, and the religious beliefs of so many Indiana residents. Kids must be guided through the confusing years of childhood and adolescence not with dangerous lies, but with truth and love, receiving reality-affirming care from the adults they rely on.

IFI supports HB 1220 and SB 480

Contact your representative here.

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SUPPORT SB 351: Defining “sex” for purposes of birth certificates

Summary

Senate Bill 351 lays out the definition of “sex” to be used for birth certificates. The bill ensures that this definition is in-line with biology and does not involve psychological, chosen, or subjective gender experiences. The definition put forth specifies that sex is a biological indication of male or female, and that this is determined by factors such as one’s reproductive potential, sex chromosomes, sex hormones, and nonambiguous genitalia present at birth.

Analysis

Adolescence can already be a very difficult time, but imagine the confusion faced by a child when they are told they can choose their own gender. This is the reality for many children today, who are taught by social media, authorities at school, and sometimes even parents, that gender is subjective and at the end of the day is up to each individual. Particularly for kids who are struggling to fit in with their true gender, this message can be dangerously attractive. Unfortunately many lawmakers have jumped on the bandwagon and have given up way too much ground to transgender ideology. In the case of birth certificates, over a dozen mostly liberal states allow an option of gender “X” or other non-binary options. 

Not only that, but transgender individuals are allowed to legally change their sex on their birth certificates, even in Indiana. This can be done as a teenager with parental backing or later as an adult. Birth certificates are important legal documents, and they need to be in line with science and common sense. In an age of ever-increasing confusion over what it means to be male or female, it is critical that Indiana takes a stand for the biological realities that the large majority of Hoosiers know to be true. Clearing up the definition of sex in birth certificates is one of many pieces in the larger effort to push back against illogical and dangerous transgender ideology.

Conclusion

Writing into law that birth certificates must specify one’s sex as male or female, and that this decision is to be made according to nothing but biology, is a vital step in affirming reality in Indiana. It sets an important precedent that Indiana will not stand for the deceptions of a radical ideology being treated as medical and legal truths. Birth certificates are serious legal documents, and one’s sex is a straightforward biological fact. Ensuring that this is accurately recorded on birth certificates will help align Indiana law with reality, and it will serve as an important step in the larger fight against the fictitious notion that one can choose to be male, female, or something else entirely.

IFI supports SB 351.

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SUPPORT SB 303: Protecting donor privacy

Summary

Senate Bill 303 safeguards the privacy of individuals who have supported nonprofits. The bill defines personal information as anything that would directly or indirectly reveal the identities of those who have supported a nonprofit through membership, volunteering, or donation. Public agencies would be prohibited from requiring a nonprofit to disclose personal information. Agencies would also be barred from publicly disclosing any personal information of a nonprofit that the agency may have in its possession. Also, current or potential contractors or grantees for a public agency must not be required to disclose to the agency information on what nonprofit organizations they may have supported. The bill provides certain exceptions, such as when a release of information is ruled necessary in a legal proceeding. It also provides for means of financial and injunctive relief for individuals alleging a violation of the bill.

Analysis

Americans are experiencing a time of great political polarization where differing opinions are met with increased hostility. This can be particularly true against conservatives, whose traditional, American values are increasingly being deemed unacceptable by those who hold institutional power. Unfortunately, those with such power, including government officials themselves, have at times used it to target private citizens with whom they disagree.

Conservative donors have had their information leaked to the public through actions at both the federal and state levels. In 2013, for example, the IRS admitted to an information leak that revealed the personal information of donors to a group promoting a traditional definition of marriage. More recently, the New York Attorney General’s office allegedly leaked to the media a list of donors to Stand for America, a conservative nonprofit. In an age where politics is increasingly seen as personal and diversity of thought is not accepted by many on the left, information leaks like these can result in real danger. Conservative donors who have had their identities revealed to the public could very well be harassed at their homes, lose their jobs, and face threats against their life and the lives of their family.

Conclusion

Every American should have the right to donate to whatever organization they see fit. The United States is built on freedom of thought and the diversity of opinion. For government officials at any level to be involved in putting private citizens at risk due to their personal beliefs is outrageous. Particularly in this highly polarized age, people with views outside of the supposed “cultural norm” must be protected from those seeking to use government power to threaten and suppress. Indiana must be a state where no one is afraid to support the conservative causes they believe in, or any other cause for that matter, because Hoosiers respect diversity of opinion. Protecting donor privacy is a vital step to ensure that this is possible.

IFI supports SB 303.

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