Indiana Senate passes bill targeting trans students and inmates
A new bill targets trans students and inmates [stock image] (Getty)
The Indiana Senate passed S.B. 182 on 27 January in a 37-8 party-line vote, with Republican state Senator Liz Brown claiming the bill is necessary to protect ‘women’ in ‘their private spaces’.
S.B. 182 contains provisions that define “female”, “male”, “sex” and “gender” in line with reproductive organs, and applies that definition to all laws statewide.
The bill also instructs schools to have multiple occupancy restrooms, locker rooms and dorms “for the exclusive use of the male sex” and “for the exclusive use of the female sex”, and says students should only use the restroom “designated for the sex that is the individual’s sex”.
READ MORE: Indiana bans healthcare for trans youth effective immediately, court rules
Jails and prisons must also house trans inmates in line with their sex assigned at birth, according to the bill.
Opponents of the bill included intersex people. However in an attempt to include those individuals, an amendment was added which said the sex listed on birth certificates could only be changed if individuals have “a medically verifiable disorder of sex development”. However the rules regarding restrooms and dorms provided little other guidance for intersex people.
ACLU Indiana notes: “While bathroom bans claim to protect women, similar laws have led to intimidation and harassment against both trans people and cisgender women who don’t fit society’s narrow expectations for femininity.”
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