House Bill 1041, authored by Rep. Michelle Davis, will “Require…school corporations, public schools, nonpublic schools, and certain athletic associations to expressly designate an athletic team or sport as one of the following: (1) A male, men’s, or boys’ team or sport. (2) A female, women’s, or girls’ team or sport. (3) A coeducational or mixed team or sport.”

Math teacher Rebecca Minton was contacted by Rep. Ed Clere to testify against the bill. On January 24 Minton traveled to the State House in Indianapolis with the ACLU.

There were three hours of testimony in front of the Education Committee. In order to send a bill to the full House of Representatives, a bill must pass out of committee. The Education Committee was the committee where the bill began. 

“There were quite a few people there in support of the bill but there were more in opposition,” Minton said. “So, I felt like it was not going to pass out of committee because there was so much testimony against it…”

However, House Bill 1041 passed and has moved to the senate.

“It is a bill that officially discriminates against trans girls in athletics,” Minton said. “My own son is transgender and I felt that this bill was discriminatory towards a specific group of people.”  

The bill only gives guidance towards male-to-female transgender women on all women’s sports teams, not female-to-male transgender men on all men’s teams. 

According to Indiana General Assembly the bill “Prohibits a male, based on the student’s biological sex at birth in accordance with the student’s genetics and reproductive biology, from participating on an athletic team or sport designated as being a female, women’s, or girls’ athletic team or sport.” 

Bills similar have been proposed and passed in Virginia, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, South Dakota, West Virginia, Florida, and Tennessee. 

1.4 million people identify as transgender in the US, according to the UCLA School of Law. 

Additionally, the Trevor Project’s National Survey on LGBTQ+ mental health indicated that 61% of transgender youth feel that they experienced the most discrimination at school. 

“This is one of those issues we keep fighting,” Minton said. “It isn’t fair, but we see you and we validate you, and there are quite a few people who will make sure that you will get the same opportunities afforded to you as everyone else.” 

The bill advances to the Senate for the final vote; if approved, it will go into effect on July 1, 2022.