Area and state organizations that support transgender rights have expressed their disappointment following a recent lawsuit filed against a local school district by a transgender man and a recent bill in the Legislature that bans transgender girls from participating on girls teams.
Jasper Wisecarver, a transgender man, filed a lawsuit against Valparaiso Community Schools on Feb. 15 because the school district is prohibiting him from using the men’s restrooms and locker room and for not recognizing his name in the school administrative system.
On Wednesday, the Senate Education and Career Development Committee passed House Bill 1041, which bans transgender girls from participating on a designated girls sport or team in K-12 schools.
Simon Anderson Schelling, chair of the LGTBQ Outreach of Porter County, said he feels frustration with the recent lawsuit and bill, and that rights for transgender people “in essence” don’t exist.
“There’s limited protection for trans people,” Schelling said.
The lawsuit
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed a lawsuit against Valparaiso Community School Corp. for violating Title IX of the Education Amendments Act and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment after not allowing Wisecarver to use restrooms consistent with his gender identity.
“Trans kids deserve the same rights as anyone. None of us chose to be trans, or decided to make life more difficult for ourselves,” Wisecarver said in a statement. “Young trans kids are just trying to exist, and often don’t feel like they can stand up for their rights. But instead of school administration being supportive, administrators are making life more challenging for already vulnerable students.”
Administrators with the Valparaiso Schools did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Wisecarver, 18, is a senior at Valparaiso High School who has questioned his gender identity for several years, according to the lawsuit. In late 2020, his therapist diagnosed him with gender dysphoria and Wisecarver began to recognize himself as male, according to the lawsuit.
In 2021, Wisecarver began hormone replacement therapy.
In late 2020, Wisecarver met with his guidance counselor to discuss which restrooms he could use because “he did not feel comfortable using women’s restrooms,” according to the lawsuit.
The counselor, according to the lawsuit, told Wisecarver that school policy states transgender students are required to use the restroom of the sex they were assigned at birth. Instead, the guidance counselor told Wisecarver that he could use the single-occupancy restroom in the nurse’s office or the women’s restroom, according to the lawsuit.
For gym class, Wisecarver used the men’s locker room to change at the start of this semester, according to the lawsuit. A week after class began, Wisecarver was called into the guidance counselor’s office and told he had to change either in the women’s locker room or in the nurse’s office bathroom, according to the lawsuit.
” (Wisecarver) believed that this restriction was unlawful, and he continued to change in the men’s locker room without any negative response or issue from other students, who perceived him to be a man,” according to the lawsuit.
School officials met with Wisecarver again to tell him he can’t use the men’s locker room. He was told he would be disciplined if he continued to do so, according to the lawsuit.
Wisecarver was given three options: He could either change in the nurse’s office; he could come to school in his gym clothes and then use the nurse’s office to change after class; or he could wear his gym clothes for the rest of the school day, according to the lawsuit.
“None of these options are acceptable, and they all serve to single out Jasper and provide him with unequal treatment,” according to the lawsuit.
On Feb. 1, he was called to the assistant principal’s office after receiving multiple tardies to gym class. When Wisecarver explained he was late because he had to use the nurse’s office, the assistant principal said he “should have chosen to use the women’s locker room to change,” according to the lawsuit.
School officials have not changed Wisecarver’s name and gender in the school’s administrative system, which means substitute teachers often use his former name.
“As a result of being denied access to men’s facilities, and because he is frequently referred to by incorrect names and pronouns by substitute teachers, Jasper feels anxious and upset and often dreads going to school,” according to the lawsuit.
House Bill 1041
In a 8-3 vote, the Senate committee voted along party lines to advance the bill banning transgender girls from participating on a girls sport or team in K-12 schools to the full Senate.
Sen. J.D. Ford, D-Indianapolis, said the bill is “unnecessary and unconstitutional” noting that the Indiana High School Athletic Association already has a policy that requires transgender girls who want to play sports to show they’ve completed hormone therapy, and that their muscle mass or bone density is typical of other girls the same age.
Senators in the education committee voted down Ford’s amendments to the bill that would have sent the issue to a summer study committee while still allowing the IHSAA to make case-by-case decisions about athlete eligibility.
Rep. Michelle Davis, R-Greenwood, who authored the bill, said its purpose is to “maintain fair competition in girls’ sports.”
ACLU representatives have said the group will file a lawsuit if the “hateful legislation” is signed into law.
If the bill passes, Indiana could be the 11th Republican-dominated state to adopt such a ban on transgender or girls. In two of those states — Idaho and West Virginia — the laws have been halted by federal judges. The U.S. Department of Justice has challenged bans in other states, slamming then as violations of federal law.
The response
Schelling, who has reviewed Wisecarver’s lawsuit, said the school district “needs to step up” and start treating students equally. The options that the district gave Wisecarver are not appropriate, he said.
“Until people are able to go and use the appropriate facilities of how they identify, there is no solution,” Schelling said.
Having to use a restroom that is inconsistent with a person’s gender causes “mental strain” and is medically dangerous as transgender people often avoid using the bathroom in public, Schelling said.
When a transgender person is called by their former name, Schelling said “it’s heartbreaking.”
“Even though you know who you are, it makes you start to question because people don’t see who you are,” Schelling said.
The Valparaiso Democratic Committee issued a statement about the lawsuit stating “the allegations listed in the complaint are heartbreaking to read.”
“In 2022, we should be embracing our youth and supporting them in their lives,” the statement reads in part.
As House Bill 1041 advances, Schelling said he does not understand why the bill was drafted other than as an attack on transgender girls. The transgender youth he works with have expressed their worry, Schelling said.
“There’s a lot of fear behind it. A lot of ‘why are people attacking us? Why do we have to defend ourselves? I’m just a person trying to do this thing,'” Schelling said.
Given the Republican supermajority in Indiana, Schelling said it’s very likely that House Bill 1041 will pass.
“That makes me sad, but I am going to continue to do the work that I do to create safe spaces for the kids that need them. Otherwise, that’s just one other place that they’re losing out on a safe space for them. That’s one other place where they are not able to be their authentic selves,” Schelling said.
