INDIANAPOLIS—Focusing on a specific section of the controversial House Bill 1608 that initially prohibited teachers from using a child’s preferred name or pronoun without parental consent, Democratic senators introduced amendments to soften the bill’s language, which led to some terse exchanges with Republicans across the aisle.
Out of the multiple amendments that were presented before the Senate, only Amendment 12, authored by Sen. Stacey Donato, R-Logansport, was adopted, which eliminated the requirement to receive consent from parents for teachers to honor a student’s request to be called a different gender or pronoun.
The bill’s amended language now requires that the school notify the child’s parent within five days of receiving the request from the child to use a different name or pronouns.
Considered Indiana's version of Florida's controversial "Don't Say Gay" bill, HB 1557, the bill brought hundreds of protestors to the Indiana Statehouse in February and March, from parents of LGBTQ+ youth to teachers themselves.
After trying to eliminate the bill altogether, Senate Democrats took aim at softening HB 1608 by bringing forth amendments to lessen its intensity.
Sen. Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington, authored multiple amendments attempting to make notable changes to the bill, such as introducing a section stating schools would not be allowed to punish a teacher for using a pronoun or nickname that a child requests. Despite authoring six, she only called down two.
In talking before the full Senate during HB 1608’s second reading, Yoder shared that her main problem with the bill was the portion regarding using a child’s desired pronouns, rather than the main “gist” of the bill that prohibits the teaching of sexual materials to young children.
Of all of her amendments, Yoder considered Amendment 11 “the most compassionate and the most common sense.” The amendment would add a provision requiring teachers tell students requesting a name or pronoun change that their parents will have to be notified. The students would then be able to revoke their request.
Yoder said her amendment’s goal was to protect children from potential danger in their homes by offering them an “out.”
“This amendment does create a space in 1608 for a student or a young person to be able to have that conversation with their parent.”
According to a recent study from Chapin Hall, a public policy research institute at the University of Chicago, LGBTQ young people are 120% more likely to experience homelessness than non-LGBTQ youth.
In a tense debate, Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, told Yoder she was strongly against her amendment.
Brown said that she previously joked when discussing the bill that children aren’t always honest and forthcoming with their parents, and she proposed a situation that she considered concerning. She said that as the amendment is written, a child could hear that their teacher would be required to notify their parent, take back their request to be called a different name or pronoun, but then receive “counseling” and “advice” from their teacher on the situation anyways.
Brown said this was concerning because then the parent wouldn’t know that their child was being counseled under a different name or pronoun.
Yoder responded firstly by saying no one should joke about HB 1608 and then that there are plenty of situations to be concerned about.
“Believe me, I have lots of concerns about 1608, and I am trying to find a common ground of where a student can … have any rights in them finding their way through,” Yoder said.
Sen. Rodney Pol, D-Chesterton, said that although there could be some issues with Yoder’s amendment, the bill is the real problem.
“What she's [Yoder] doing is dealing with a bad underlying bill,” Pol said. “You don't need this bill. There's nothing that is stopping parents from being engaged with their students' lives or their kids' lives.
“We want healthy families, but we have to be cognizant of the idea that there are bad parents out there,” Pol added.
Yoder’s Amendment 11 failed by a vote of 34-14, with Republicans Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, Sen. Eric Bassler, R-Washington, Sen. Vaneta Becker, R-Evansville, Sen. Kyle Walker, R-Lawrence, and Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus, voting in favor of the amendment.
The bill now moves to its third reading in the Senate. If passed, it will return to the House.