Trust LGBTQ adults like me: Overriding Holcomb’s veto will repeat a scary history for kids

Gov. Eric Holcomb saved lives when he vetoed House Bill 1041. But now that the Indiana General Assembly’s Republican supermajority voted to override this veto of the ban on transgender girls from participating in girls school sports, those lives will be put in jeopardy.

That’s not hyperbole. A study from the Trevor Project showed about 66% of LGBTQ youth said their mental health was negatively impacted when anti-LGBTQ bills were debated in their home state. That includes 85% of transgender youth.

If facts don’t convince you, please listen to LGBTQ adults like me. We were all kids once too, and many of us lived through — and survived — a form of trauma none of us wish upon our kids today. Our concern: The adults in the room are letting history repeat itself, and its impact is entirely predictable and scary.

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LGBTQ folks remember an era where adults described queer people as “pedophiles” or “sex predators.” We remember the adults who justified the murder of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming in 1998. We remember the adults who said LGBTQ people were condemned to hell. And we remember adults who claimed society will crumble if same-sex couples were given the right to marry. None of their claims happened or were true.

The adults did not view LGBTQ folks favorably, and their kids listened. Kids took their cues from their parents, and what happened was a bullying epidemic targeting a generation of LGBTQ children.

I can’t speak for other LGBTQ adults, but here was my experience.

I was a jock in grade school and played AAU basketball. Because some parents perceived me as gay, I was left out of team sleepovers and trips, leaving my family to shuttle me from game to game. Teammates harassed me in locker rooms and even during team events. This experience contributed to me quitting the sport I loved. But, the bullying didn’t stop.

On a daily basis, classmates called me slurs. I experienced physical assault in hallways and had bullies follow me into restrooms. The harassment was so bad that I would use class periods for my bathroom break. A teacher would let me use his classroom as a locker to avoid hallway encounters. But the most horrifying moment I’ll never forget: Someone shouting “Drew’s a queen” when I was recognized as my school’s homecoming king. I was standing in the middle of a packed gymnasium when my entire hometown learned of my sexual orientation — years before I was even ready to confront it myself.

Kids do not recover from this kind of bullying. Gay and trans kids felt like existing meant signing up for a lifetime of abandonment. Anti-LGBTQ bullying was so severe that many of us questioned whether life was worth it. Some of us died by suicide, and our nation witnessed an epidemic among LGBTQ youth. I almost became that statistic, and I honestly don’t know how I survived.

This era occurred because the adults in the room allowed it, and sometimes dangerous patterns have a way of repeating themselves.

Fast-forward to today. The conversation surrounding House Bill 1041 — and impending “Don’t Say Gay” legislation — is a sequel to the anti-LGBTQ crusades of the past. And, it’s going to have the same conclusion on our LGBTQ youth. Queer and trans kids will be exiled by adults, excluded from playing the sports they love, and bullied by their peers at school.

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LGBTQ adults and allies tried to stop this legislation at every angle. Doctors sounded the alarms. Families bravely stepped up to share their personal stories. Organizations like the Indiana High School Athletic Association said its policies did not present an unfair playing advantage. And an organization classified as a national hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center was even found to be behind this legislation. None of it mattered.

It must be said: The legislation they are passing is out of hate  Overriding Holcomb’s veto makes the Indiana lawmakers look more like persecutors and less like public servants.

The adults in the room are making a decision that will influence a generation of LGBTQ Hoosiers. I fear these adults have not learned from the past and are forcing our kids to live through an experience many LGBTQ adults like me wish we could forget.

Drew Anderson, who works as the communications director for the Indiana Democratic Party, is an LGBTQ Hoosier who is originally from Tipton and currently resides in Carmel.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Op/Ed: Indiana's transgender sports ban will repeat a scary history