Central Indiana parents share their thoughts about a new law that requires schools to notify them when a student requests a different name or pronouns.
Just in case you thought this was only a Florida problem.
Let’s say John is in school and wants to come out at trans. “He” would like to go by Jane and use she/her pronouns. The one problem is that John’s parents are very conservative and would beat their child for being LGBTQ instead of “a normal straight kid.”
If John feels comfortable in school, he might transition publicly there - answering to Jane in class and reverting to John at home to avoid beatings.
This law, however, means that the second John asks to be called Jane, John’s parents would be contacted. Even if John/Jane begged for them not to be. School ceases to be a safe space and Jane needs to keep pretending to be John everywhere lest they get beaten.
Let’s say John is in school and wants to come out at trans. “He” would like to go by Jane and use she/her pronouns. The one problem is that John’s parents are very conservative and would beat their child for being LGBTQ instead of “a normal straight kid.”
If John feels comfortable in school, he might transition publicly there - answering to Jane in class and reverting to John at home to avoid beatings.
This law, however, means that the second John asks to be called Jane, John’s parents would be contacted. Even if John/Jane begged for them not to be. School ceases to be a safe space and Jane needs to keep pretending to be John everywhere lest they get beaten.
Thanks for explaining. That sounds awful for the kids, peer pressure is bad enough and now having to deal with conservative parents too!