Beginning in the 2024-2025 school year, Idaho K-12 teachers and college professors will not be required to use a student’s preferred pronouns or name in the classroom.
Idaho House Bill 538, which was enacted on July 1, 2024, allows teachers to choose whether or not to use names or pronouns for students that don’t correlate with their gender assigned at birth without parental consent. The law also protects teachers and government employees from legal action if they refuse to use an individual’s preferred name or pronouns.
Andi Brown, a 20-year-old junior graphic design major at Boise State, shares that they’ve dealt with discrimination at school by a professor who refused to use their name and pronouns as well as refused to let Brown speak on trans topics due to it being “too controversial”.
Brown added that this bill will have an impact towards LGBTQIA+ members being discriminated against in the workplace.
“It’s definitely affecting things [people’s perceptions] already, even before the bill,” Brown said. “Just attitudes [towards gender identity and pronouns] in general. I think this is just going to allow people in power to just continue to discriminate.”
Brown mentioned the impact House Bill 538 and future bills could have on the transgender community.
“It’s one of those things that kind of just stresses the community out and just puts more anxiety in the community,” Brown said. “We really don’t know what we can and cannot do, and we constantly have to think about how we express ourselves, and how that will harm us, which is really depressing.”
Brown is also a member of Boise Trans Collective, an organized group that supports the trans community through art and music events. The group is funded through some of the admission sales for music events and also auctioning off donated pieces from local queer artists.
Gender Studies Program Director Dr. Aiden VanderStouwe expanded on the importance that the gender studies program can have in raising awareness regarding groups of people who are impacted by legislation.
“Raising awareness and increasing education around these kinds of topics can be really helpful for increasing empathy in the world,” VanderStouwe said. “Having people just understand the idea of what differences exist among people, and hopefully, create a little bit more safety and protection for the people that are sometimes being targeted.”
The gender studies program at Boise State touches on courses related to intersectionality, gender, and ideas of feminism. There will be a gender performance class in the fall that will focus on areas of trans identity.
VanderStouwe argued that bills similar to House Bill 538 can make LGBTQIA+ Idahoans feel “targeted”.
“There’s a lot of problems with passing bills like this,” VanderStouwe said. “They’re [the bills] very targeted and it can make it really difficult for people that are queer and maybe aren’t out and are queer living in small towns not feel safe, not feel able to come out, not feel validated in who they are as people.”
In 2024, there are 13 Idaho House Bills related to LGBTQIA+ rights. This is the second bill passed into law by Gov. Brad Little regarding transgender rights in the month of July. House Bill 668 prohibits the use of public funds for gender transition procedures.
There are support programs offered on campus such as the Gender Equity Center, which specializes in supporting LGBTQIA+ students.
“The Gender Equity Center fosters a brave community for LGBTQIA+ students by supporting them through the support systems and resources we provide,” Gender Equity Director Terry Scraggins said in an email to The Arbiter.
Scraggins added that the Gender Equity Center makes efforts to inform people on the LGBTQIA+ community.
“We also have our Campus Clothing Closet which fosters safety in exploring gender identity,” Scraggins said. “Lastly, we provide educational opportunities to the campus community in hopes of increasing awareness and knowledge around LGBTQIA+ and other identities that intersect with gender.”
Some of the additional support systems the gender equity center provides includes a physical lounge for students to conduct activities or do homework. They also provide informational workshops and events on Bystander Intervention and Stalking Prevention, Rainbow Graduation Celebration for LGBTQIA+ students and the allied community.
