Navigating Identity: The Impact of HEA 1608 at MHS

By: Zeke Brown

As of July 12023, the law Indiana House Enrolled Act (HEA) 1608 was passed, concerning the identity of transgender students. The law requires mandatory reporting within five business days to parents if their student requests gender identity changes, such as a name, pronoun, or title change. This has caused frustration across Indiana in many families, including here, at MHS, because forcefully outing transgender students can create uncomfortable conversations between families.

Principal Chad Brugh said, “I don’t necessarily agree or disagree with the law. I think what I try to do as the principal of a building is anytime the law is passed down I try to follow the law…I can definitely see where we wanna make sure that we respect what the child wants but we need to make sure that the parent understands that as well.”

Sophomore Nova Long said, “I feel like that since it’s in high school, I feel like the students should have a choice on deciding what they want without parents being informed. But I get why they would want to inform parents about it.

Junior Braedyn Lee added, “It’s not important, and I do not agree with it. So, you know that phrase ‘outsider looking in’? That’s a lot what this law is. It’s people from the outside looking in on a person’s life. The child knows their home a lot better than a teacher does, which is why they may not be okay with their parents knowing that they go by a different name.”

“As a teacher, I want kids to feel the most comfortable so if they feel like they prefer to have privacy and tell their family when they’re ready,” said a staff member who wished to stay anonymous. “But then, as a parent, then I would kinda just like to know to be like, oh then I know and then I can talk to my daughter like, ‘Oh, hey! How come you didn’t feel comfortable to talk to me about that?’ So I can see the pros and cons.”

Another anonymous staff member recalled, “I’ve had many students through the years that were kicked out of their home because they chose to identify with something different than their biological situation. And to tell the parents too early, I think could be very devastating in the home.”

Social worker Kristin Ermeti said, “I think it’s sad that we need a law to do this, but I understand it because we have to have some type of consistency and it’s important that parents know what their child wants to be called in a school setting…I understand it. It’s just unfortunate that, you know, we have to do all this—that it has to become a law.”

“I have some issues with the law. I agree that parents should be aware of what’s going on with their student, but particularly the high school level if the student chooses to be called by something else I don’t really see that that is an issue,” Teacher Amy Foley said.

This law has made some students have a harder home life than they might’ve had before. Long recounted an experience with a friend,  “I have had friends who went by a different name but got called down to the office and they would call their parents about it, and they got, like, in a lot of trouble.”

The current requirements are giving students a pause when deciding how to navigate the exploration of their identity. Lee said, “Yes, this year especially. Because, a lot of this year I’ve been exploring a lot with myself and thinking about myself. Especially over the summer. So, part of that of me being hesitant to, you know, change my name. And I definitely will, but I won’t tell the school about it.”

Many in the student body support those who are exploring their identity. Junior Brandon Bryce said, “No, because if a student wants to go by a different name or they want to change their pronouns based off of their beliefs, that shouldn't be the school’s issue, or that should be a personal issue. That should be discussed in the family circle with the student. The school should not be involved in that decision.”

Senior Kylie Workman added, “I would say I think it is important to inform a parent of a child’s identity and what they go by, but I also feel like if the parents don’t support it, I feel like it’s the child’s decision to tell them…” Workman argued, “Just because you don’t support it yourself doesn’t mean that you need to hate on your child because they identify as something that they feel like safe to them.”

While most parents seem to respect their children’s identity, others do not agree with it. Brugh said, “Most of the parents, when we tell them, know from the child so it isn’t a surprise to them.”

Ermeti added, “But I have not had a parent get upset because usually they already know if they have a close relationship with their child, they already know.”

Foley confessed, “I have had parents upset when I have communicated home using a different name and they were aware that their child preferred to go by that name, but insisted then that I use the given name on the record when dealing with the parents.”

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as recent as 2023, 3.3% of students in high school identify as transgender and 2.2% of students are questioning their identity. Many queer students find it difficult to explore their identity in settings because of the current requirements.

Brugh said, “I would say that it’s not the majority of the students that wanna be called a different name.”

An anonymous staff member explained, “Throughout the years I’ve had many LGBTQ students that were involved in not so happy affairs at home because of their gender choice, because of their sexuality choice, because of their love interest, things like that. And there have been many students then that had suppressed who they are because of this law.”

Foley added, “I had a student who went by three different names in the course of one school year. And she was just experimenting and she was with different pronouns as well and so she was trying to find out what was comfortable for her and so I have had students go by multiple different names during the school year, during their time with us at MHS, but I haven’t known any that changed their mind because of their parents.”