Op-Ed: Passing Equality Act necessary for Indiana LGBTQ community to feel supported, safe

It was 2020. I heard the call to shift my career path. Having worked as a business litigator for several decades while becoming increasingly involved in advocacy for over a decade, I felt drawn to making advocacy and working to make a real difference in others’ lives the focus of my work-life.

While I’d spent most of my life in Illinois, I decided that I’d be willing to move for the right position. However, Indianapolis was never on my radar. Indiana was one of a long list of states deliberately excluded from my job search. I’m a transgender woman who came out a bit later in life. Like many trans people, I’ve experienced harassment in my profession and faced discrimination simply for being myself. Finding a job in Indiana— or any of the other 28 states lacking comprehensive nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people — put me at risk. 

My calculus changed upon seeing an announcement that GenderNexus, a social services agency supporting gender-diverse Hoosiers, was hiring a new executive director. Their mission — to empower gender-diverse people and their loved ones to live healthy, authentic and joyful lives — inspired me. The idea of moving to a state without adequate protections scared me. But, that fear was outweighed by the opportunity to pay it forward on behalf of past generations who risked everything to take the first steps for our community for me. I applied for the job. 

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No one should have to weigh concerns about discrimination when considering job opportunities. While we can all agree, as in fact most Americans already do, all people should be able to participate in every aspect of daily life with dignity and respect and without fear of discrimination. Right now, millions of LGBTQ people live in the 29 states that lack comprehensive statewide laws explicitly prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ people.

Our senators have the opportunity to help stop this discrimination. The federal Equality Act is commonsense bipartisan legislation that updates federal law to include nondiscrimination protections in virtually every area of daily life for millions of LGBTQ Americans. Sen. Todd Young and Mike Braun should do all they can to support the bill.

Speaking from personal experience, Indiana is losing dedicated, highly qualified workers and residents because many LGBTQ families can’t take the risk I did. Trans and nonbinary folks have essential skillsets, and fair-minded Hoosier employers lose out when competing against employers in states providing protection against discrimination. 

In my work with GenderNexus, I meet too many families struggling with the question of whether they need to leave the state. Parents of transgender children worry about their child being harassed. They even worry about taking their child to the doctor for routine checkups, having previously experienced medical discrimination. Those worries are very real. Transgender adults are still refused housing, lose employment opportunities and are denied medical care in Indiana. 

Even the patchwork of existing legal protections creates stressors. When I first came out at work in Illinois years ago, the state’s law only protected me if my employer had 15 or more employees. Uncertain which coworkers received W-2s versus 1099s, I rolled the dice that my count was correct and my employer didn’t have the right to throw me out for being trans because there were actually fewer than 15 W-2 “employees.” It was terrifying. The prevention of discrimination should be uniform, consistent and not contingent on whether there are 16, rather than 14, employees. 

It is wrong for elected officials to use trans people as political footballs. Trans folks, like everyone else, just want to live in and contribute to our communities; instead, our rights are actually debated and our lives put at risk. Studies show the debates themselves are damaging, and GenderNexus is preparing for an increase in depression and anxiety among our trans youth. Knowing this keeps me awake at night. 

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I would tell anyone who is trans, or questioning: While the threat of discrimination and harm are very real and very scary, we also need to remember that nothing compares to the joy of being true to yourself. I know the feeling of needing to hide who you are and the calculus for making that choice. I did it for decades. I hope that one day no one has to struggle with that feeling or the damaging necessity of hiding in order to have a job, a roof over your head and food on the table. 

Hope exists. Acceptance is powerful. People don’t realize how, for fellow human beings who have been excluded and othered, the mere experience of walking into a room where you are appreciated and welcomed for your unique self, is a source of joy and, consequently, a benefit to all organizations and communities. Everyone deserves this experience at work, in their community and throughout Indiana. By supporting the Equality Act, our senators can make Indiana a state where everyone is grateful to be “back home again in Indiana.”

Emma Vosicky is the Executive Director of GenderNexus, a nonprofit organization, based in Indianapolis, that supports gender-diverse people and their loved ones throughout Indiana.