SUPPORT HB 1346: Standing against harmful gender ideology in schools
Summary
House Bill 1346 would prohibit Indiana schools from requiring or encouraging the use of pronouns, titles, and names for others that are not consistent with the individual’s biological sex. This applies to teachers, students, and other individuals as well. The bill prevents schools from encouraging the use of a name or nickname for a student that is inconsistent with the student’s biological sex. HB 1346 also prohibits a school from requiring any employee to support gender fluidity. Gender fluidity is defined as any theory or ideology with tenants such as that sex is a social construct, an individual can be any or no gender, or that one’s gender can change.
Analysis
Schools have become one of the primary battlegrounds for truth in America today. Liberal activists are attempting to push their beliefs on impressionable children, using the classroom as their ideological pulpit. In no area is this more true than with matters of personal identity, something that is already very difficult for children to navigate. Confusion over gender identity specifically has become a major problem, with some schools and teachers promoting radical gender ideologies, even if doing so goes behind parents’ backs. It has become increasingly common for schools to teach that gender is malleable and that each person has a say over their gender. It is therefore no surprise that some schools are encouraging students of all ages to adopt transgender or gender nonconforming identities themselves.
For a teacher to use male pronouns for a girl in their class, or female pronouns for a boy, is a great disservice to the child. This and other so-called gender affirming practices only serve to worsen the confusion of those experiencing identity issues. HB 1346 would help end the harmful distortions of reality being found in too many schools. Children look up to teachers as reliable authorities, and parents should be able to trust that teachers will act in their child’s best interest. It is therefore incumbent upon every educator and school to abide by biological facts. Giving in to gender confusion falls far short of that responsibility, betraying students and parents.
Conclusion
Indiana needs to be a state where schools are kept safe from political weaponization, and where truth is valued above all else. In order to achieve this, ideologies like gender fluidity must be considered wholly unacceptable in the classroom. Such beliefs only seek to confuse students about the nature of the world and of themselves, the opposite of what students need in their formative years. Furthermore, when students do come to teachers or school staff with questions about their gender, the adults should never add to their confusion, but should instead work with parents to help children feel comfortable with themselves in a healthy way. In order to do this, biologically accurate pronouns, titles, and names must be used for students and teachers at every school. It is time for Indiana schools to leave behind practices that promote the deception of students and to instead always act in accordance with the truth.
IFI supports HB 1346.