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Senate Bill 32/House Bill 1213 would make anti-LGBTQ practices illegal, penalize businesses and Hoosiers who participate in debunked conspiracy theory

GLAAD Resource: How to cover anti-LGBTQ “conversion therapy” practices in the news

More than twenty U.S. states have already banned “conversion therapy”, Illinois being only state in the Midwest

INDIANAPOLIS (January 11, 2021) – Indiana Stonewall Democrats, the political arm aimed at increasing LGBTQ acceptance across Democratic politics, today celebrated State Senator JD Ford (District 39) and State Representative Sue Errington (District 26) for introducing a new bill to effectively end so-called “conversion therapy” practices across the state of Indiana. “Conversion therapy” is a debunked practice used by anti-LGBTQ activists to try and change the sexual orientation and gender identity of many LGBTQ Americans across the United States, including many LGBTQ Hoosiers. The debunked practice often targets minors and creates long-term health complications for survivors.

Hoosier Democrats introduced similar legislation during the 2019 legislative session. The bill failed to generate a committee hearing nor summer study committee. Indiana could be the second state to ban “conversion therapy” practices in the Midwest.

According to the Movement Advancement Project (MAP), more than twenty states have already banned “conversion therapy” practices across the United States, including Utah — a traditionally conservative and religious state which banned the practice in early 2020. “Conversion therapy” has also reached the U.S. courts system after a federal judge in November 2020 banned the harmful practices in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia (Eleventh Circuit).

“Putting a stop to this harmful and detrimental practice can save the lives of countless LGBTQ Hoosiers. Our state has the chance to end this harmful and detrimental practice this year. A person’s sexual orientation or gender identity is not a disease that needs cured. In fact, every major medical and mental health organization in our country has condemned the use of ‘conversion therapy’,” said State Senator JD Ford. “There is no financial risk to our state government for approving this legislation, so why not do this?  I’m counting on all Hoosiers to help me get this across the finish line. Call your state senators. Call your state representatives. Call our governor. Tell them that Indiana doesn’t support hate in our state.”

“Most Hoosiers have never heard of ‘conversion therapy’ or think that it doesn’t happen here, but it does. I personally know some of my constituents were subjected to ‘conversion therapy’ as children and are concerned about its use on young people today,” said State Rep. Sue Errington. “Last summer, a transgender friend of mine from Delaware County reached out to me and asked me to help end ‘conversion therapy’ in Indiana. Her plea prompted me to introduce House Bill 1213, which would end the use of this discredited practice and protect Hoosiers who are born as LGBTQ.”

“Conversion therapy preys on vulnerable families and youth by promoting the deadly lie that being LGBTQ is a choice,” said Mathew Shurka, Born Perfect co-founder and chief strategist. “Believing that lie has caused incalculable damage to LGBTQ young people, who urgently need to know that they are born perfect. It is important that Indiana join the growing bipartisan movement to address this abuse.”

It’s estimated that more than 700,000 LGBTQ Americans have received some form of “conversion therapy” practice, with many receiving care from a licensed healthcare professional before reaching the age of 18. Further, LGBTQ Americans who experienced “therapy” practices are about eight times more likely to report having attempted suicide or nearly six times more likely report high levels of depression.

“Conversion therapy” has often been a topic of political debate as LGBTQ acceptance has grown across the nation. The debate reached national attention once former Indiana governor and notorious anti-LGBTQ activist Mike Pence was sworn in as Vice President in 2017. Pence is known to have once championed the debunked practice in 2000, where he called on Congress to not extend The Ryan White Act unless anti-LGBTQ businesses were not penalized for offering the practice to LGBTQ Americans.

Indiana Stonewall Democrats recommend you connect with the national organization aimed at ending “conversion therapy” across the entire United States, Born Perfect. Please reach out to Mathew Shurka, mathew@bornperfect.org, to continue the conversation about this debunked practice.

Media Contact:

Indiana Stonewall Democrats, dreander@gmail.com

INDIANAPOLIS (WFYI) – Cars circled two full blocks of downtown Indianapolis Saturday as part of protest to support transgender students. The demonstration was in response to the Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis’s new policy banning transgender students from their schools. The guidance from the Archdiocese says if a student or parent works to “legally change the students ‘gender’ or chemically or surgically alter the student’s given biology”, the student will be requested to withdraw from the school.

Katie, who didn’t provide her last name to protect the identity of her daughter, said that now excludes her family.

“Lizzie will be a freshman in the fall, and is unable to go to the school my siblings and I attended. This is the school where she was baptized, received her First Communion, and Reconciliation,” she said.

The event was organized by Shelly’s Voice, and joined by several other LGBTQ organizations in Indianapolis.

Former Roncalli guidance counselor Shelly Fitzgerald says the policy is “devastating” for transgender Catholic students who now don’t know what school they’ll attend for the fall, or if they choose to attend a Catholic school, how they’ll be received.

“And this isn’t just a singular event that is happening in the world. I mean, this is happening all over the place and we need to protect our trans population and specifically our trans youth,” Fitzgerald said.

More than 60 schools across 39 counties are operated by the Archdiocese.

Original Post by Lauren Chapman on WFYI

INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) – Since the global pandemic makes gathering in large crowds risky, a grassroots effort is underway asking Hoosiers to celebrate Pride Month from home and on social media.

“We won’t have a parade. We won’t have a march. We won’t have a party, but what we will have is the opportunity for people to stand up and show on their social media who stands with who and what side you’re on,” said Shelly Fitzgerald, handing out pride flags in a shopping plaza parking lot Tuesday afternoon.

Fitzgerald, a former Roncalli High School guidance counselor fired for her same-sex marriage, has become an LGBTQ-plus activist. She, along with members of Indiana Stonewall Democrats and PFLAG, are asking others to celebrate Pride in their own way this year.

“If you can simply grab a flag and put it in your yard, you’re making a statement and that statement is heard in your neighborhoods and your communities,” said Dominic Conover, President of Shelly’s Voice.

“We took our kids to the Pride parade last year downtown and so they were a little sad that we weren’t able to do that again this year,” Julie Chambers said as she pulled up to get her own flags. “Since they couldn’t do the parade, my girls are going to do a parade in our neighborhood themselves.”

“We’re out here today because we want people to know even though we can’t gather physically together, we still want Pride to be waving in everyone’s heart,” said State Senator JD Ford (D-Dist 29).

Ford said that marking pride this year should highlight voices of color, both because of the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests taking place across the country in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.

“This pandemic has highlighted a bunch of disparities among our black and brown friends,” said Ford. “This is really an opportunity to put our black and brown siblings at the front of the conversation.”

“It’s a really important time in our lives to take a stance against injustice,” said Fitzgerald. “Ultimately, we’re rooting each other on.”

Written by Emily Longnecker, WTHR

GLAAD denounces the Archdiocese of Indianapolis’ new policy which targets transgender young people for rejection and exclusion in all areas of school life.

The archdiocese’s “Policy and Complementary Norms on Sexual Identity in School Ministries of the Roman Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis” is signed by Archbishop Charles C. Thompson and Chancellor Annette “Mickey” Lentz, effective June 8, 2020. The archdiocese is comprised of 67 Catholic schools in central and southern Indiana.

The eight-page policy is filled with inaccurate claims and terminology regarding gender identity, and even avoids using the word “transgender” in its push to exclude transgender youth.

“The Indianapolis archdiocese’s attempt to target transgender young people rather than create safe and accepting environments for them is shameful and dangerous,” said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. “Research shows transgender youth face a higher risk of suicide from just this kind of rejection and refusal to see their authentic identity. To codify this rejection further isolates and threatens the very young people in need of love and protection.”

Shelly’s Voice, the Indiana-based advocacy group formed to defend and protect LGBTQ teachers from discrimination and unjust dismissal, called out the policy’s hurtful exclusions and goals:

“Shelly’s Voice Advocacy is frightened and dismayed by the new Archdiocesan policy which denies the trans community their dignity and rights. Within the eight-page policy that refuses to use the term transgender, it states ‘any student whose ‘gender’ has been legally changed from their biological sex, or who has chemically and/or surgically altered their given biology, may not be eligible for enrollment.’ This policy advises schools to not allow transgender students to enroll, and advocates for ‘trained’ professionals to help adolecents who are confused about their gender identity by defining ‘issues of self identity’ in accordance with the Catholic teaching.”

GLAAD found the following harmful claims and unjust recommendations in the policy, which contradict:

• The policy does not use the term “transgender,” referring only to students’ “so-called gender identity” and exclusionary language such as “his or her biological sexual identity”
• Extreme and graphic claims – calling hormone therapy or surgery “mutilation”
• Spelling out areas to exclude transgender students including enrollment, sports, dances, school trips, bathrooms and other facilities
• Rejecting the chosen name and pronouns of the transgender student, which is an attempt to undermine their authentic identity
• A student’s clothes and appearance must be “consistent with their biological sex”
• If parents or students are unwilling to conform to the policy, the student faces expulsion
• If there’s an attempt to legally change a student’s gender, the student will be forced to withdraw from school

Multiple studies over several years, including from the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, as well as The Trevor Project, show transgender youth are at significantly higher risk for violence, emotional distress and self-harm. Transgender youth reported significantly increased rates of depression and suicide compared to their cisgender peers. According to a 2019 Trevor Project study, one in three transgender youth reported attempting suicide, almost a third reported being a victim of sexual violence, and more than half reported a two-week period of depression.

Original Post by Barbara Simon, GLAAD

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A state lawmaker is again proposing to block taxpayer money from schools that discriminate against LGBTQ+ students or employees. The move comes after several Catholic school employees in Indianapolis lost their jobs over their same-sex marriages.

Jennifer McCormick, Indiana’s Republican superintendent of public instruction, joined Democratic State Sen. J.D. Ford at the statehouse Friday to share in their support for the proposed bill. Ford filed the proposal on Friday. “We need to be inclusive of everyone in Indiana,” said McCormick.

McCormick stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Democratic State Sen. J.D. Ford Friday, as he announced his anti-discrimination in schools bill. “This is something I truly believe in,” said McCormick. “I have family members who identify as LGBTQ.” Ford’s bill aims to stop schools that receive taxpayer money from discriminating against students, teachers and staff.

“This bill will allow for the opportunity for complaints to be made to the Department of Education. The Department of Education would investigate that complaint. If it’s founded, then the school would lose taxpayer dollars for the following year,” said Ford. “They’d have the ability to regain good status and get their taxpayer dollars back, once they have proven they’re not discriminating against students and staff.”

Ford, who is Indiana’s first openly gay state lawmaker, points to former Roncalli High School counselor Shelly Fitzgerald as an example. Fitzgerald claims she lost her job because of her same-sex marriage.

“Somebody turned in her marriage certificate. That right there, being placed on administrative leave simply because of who you are,” said Ford.

According to McCormick, Indiana’s LGBTQ+ students are five times more likely to try to commit suicide.

Dominic Conover, 18, is a 2019 Roncalli graduate.

“If it is passed, the effects are going to be astronomical. To see LGBTQ+ protected in both public and now private schools,” said Conover, who is serving as the president of the student-run advocacy group Shelly’s Voice.

Ford told News 8 he proposed a similar bill last session, but it did not get a hearing, meaning it didn’t go anywhere. He tells me he feels like he has a real shot this time, because it’s a short session. And, he has more experience as a state lawmaker.

The 2020 legislative session begins Monday.

Original Post on WISH TV

Indianapolis, IN – December 19, 2020 – In August of 2018, Shelly’s Voice was founded to support an LGBTQ counselor who had been suspended from her job because someone had maliciously turned in her marriage certificate. Students quickly mobilized and unified their voices in hopes to encourage the school and the Archdiocese to reconsider and give Shelly Fitzgerald her job back.  Not only did Shelly ultimately lose her job, so did another counselor who is gay. Eventually, the school’s social worker was released from her position for being and advocate for LGBTQ students and staff. Students and staff were told if they stood up and spoke out, they could be expelled or possibly lose their jobs.  

Since our founding, Shelly’s Voice has grown into a national organization with a unique vision and mission. Shelly’s Voice is here to protect, lift up, and empower those who experience discrimination and bigotry.  We educate people on how to use their voices to live their authentic lives, and to #bePROUD of who they are.

People who have experienced discrimination, have been silenced, or have been traumatized because they are LGBTQ deserve to tell their stories, to be heard, and to be supported.  This is what Shelly’s Voice vows to do. Shelly’s Voice continues to support those who do not know what to do next and help them tell their stories. Shelly’s Voice stands in advocacy with anyone who has experienced discrimination for being LGBTQ.

We are touched by those who are brave enough to tell their stories and experiences.  We believe those stories will help many others to do the same and to stop feeling shame that others have inflicted on them.  

We stand with Dominic Conover and all of those brave individuals who have been so hurt by others.  We vow to stand with him in his pain and to empower him to be an example for so many others who have been silenced and treated unfairly.

Shelly’s Voice Advocacy Group, an organization committed to creating an LGBTQ+ inclusive Indianapolis community through outreach, action, and education, has recently launched a fund-raising campaign to assist with the legal fees of four local educators who have been fired in the last year for being LGBTQ+ or an ally. Ariadne Getty, heir to the Getty name and world-renowned philanthropist and LGBTQ+ activist, donated $5,000 to the cause. 

In August of 2018, Shelly Fitzgerald was released from her job after serving fifteen years in the school counseling department at Roncalli High School in Indianapolis on the basis of her same-sex marriage. 

Upon the news reaching the public, thousands of people stood in solidarity with Fitzgerald in her charge against this type of workplace discrimination.  Among the people who stood up in her immediate community were her students and a friend and attorney, David Page. Page offered her all legal support pro bono.  Fitzgerald was the counselor to Page and his wife’s three children for over a decade. He knew this was going to be a long and arduous process, but he was willing to take it on and walk with her through it all.   

A group of students from Fitzgerald’s school quickly called for an end to the way in which Shelly– and many other LGBTQ+ employees– were being treated. Shelly’s Voice Advocacy Group, a youth-led organization based in Indianapolis, has garnered national attention over the past year.  In September of 2018, Ellen DeGeneres gifted them with $25,000 toward their non-profit group. That money has gone toward many advocacy-related efforts, including: a public launch party, Rally for Equality, Grand Marshal’s for the Indy Pride Parade, a community gender sexuality alliance, and a letter-writing campaign.  

In January of 2019, Shelly Fitzgerald’s attorneys filed an EEOC charge against Roncalli and the Archdiocese of Indianapolis and in the first week of October 2019, the case moved forward and Shelly’s lawsuit was filed.  Moving into this phase will be lengthy and will require hundreds of hours of work to create a strong case. While Shelly’s attorney is committed to remaining pro-bono in his work with her case, the firm is going to need additional counsel. Naturally, Fitzgerald cannot afford to pay for the additional legal fees.

Three other educators are in similar situations in Indianapolis, but Shelly remains the most vocal and visible activist on this issue. In order for Fitzgerald,  the organization, and the other three educators to continue moving forward in this process, Shelly’s Voice Advocacy Group has begun a fund-raising campaign to financially assist with the legal fees needed to create strong cases. They are hopeful to raise $150,000 by the end of the year and are currently shy of $10,000.

A prominent group advocating for LGBTQ acceptance in the Catholic church held an early morning rally at Cathedral High School in Indianapolis Friday. Cathedral was the second Indianapolis Catholic high school to fire a teacher for marrying someone of the same gender.

Cars pulled in for the second day of school. A majority honked or cheered. Shelly’s Voice Advocacy Group formed after a guidance counselor – Shelly Fitzgerald – was placed on administrative leave last year. Fitzgerald is a member and says it’s important to show LGBTQ students they belong and are loved.

“I’m out here to support the Cathedral students who are LGBT who need to know they are supported by the community and the church,” Fitzgerald says.

Cathedral graduate Maureen Kesterson-Yates says she is disappointed in the school but hopes LGBTQ students know there are people who care about them.

“I was kind of hoping they would do better,” Kesterson-Yates says. “All we can do is stand out here and support them and let them know that we’re here and that we see them, and they are important to us.”

Students were welcomed back to school Thursday by rainbow streamers decorating the campus entrance – the senior class traditionally covers the trees leading up to the school with toilet paper.

Shelly’s Voice also rallied at Roncalli High School for its first day of school. They did not gather at a third Indianapolis Catholic high school – Brebeuf Jesuit – which is currently appealing a decision from the Archdiocese revoking the school’s affiliation and preventing it from hosting Mass during school.

Original Post by Darian Benson in WFYI