Indiana Should Defund Group That Sued For ‘Nonbinary’ Licenses

With supermajorities in both chambers of the legislature and new conservative Gov. Mike Braun leading the executive branch, it is past time to defund left-wing Indiana Legal Services (ILS). The legal group receives more than $3 million of taxpayer dollars a year and sued Indiana for not offering “nonbinary” drivers licenses.

ILS receives some funding via the federal Victims of Crime Act grant program through the Criminal Justice Institute (CJI), according to the state’s website. But there are plenty of other options for this money; as Rep. Hal Slager, R-District 15, told me, “ILS was one of about 185 organizations across the state that received grant funds from the program.”

ILS feeds at the taxpayer’s trough for about 33 percent of its annual budget. It was awarded a grant of $381,000 to be used over a four-year term from the state supreme court, and has been granted $45,000 from the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs and $20,000 from Marion County Commission on Children and Youth.

It is one thing to help victims of crime, and another to help gender-confused residents get “identifying” documents. Indiana can help victims of crime without favoring a small minority group. Police departments and shelters should be the recipients of such funding.

ILS also supports minors getting puberty blockers and permanently damaging surgeries to alter their appearance.

ILS did not respond to a request for comment.

Proposed Bill Needs Strengthening

Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray’s office said a new bill would help with oversight. “One of the Senate Republicans’ priority bills this session is Senate Bill 5,” Bray’s Communications Director Molly Swigart told me.

“This bill has a provision that would ensure the legislature is notified when an agency seeks to enter any new federal programs, so if that passes, there will be more legislative oversight on these sorts of issues going forward,” she said.

Speaker of the House Todd Huston’s team said the state should not be funding groups that oppose its agenda. “We’re looking into this as we certainly don’t want to be funding entities that are suing us against common-sense decisions,” Huston’s Communications Director Molly Gillaspie told me.

This is a good start, but a better solution would be a one-line bill — “no state entity shall provide funds to Indiana Legal Services.”

Government watchdog group Open the Books agrees.

“In a free society, citizens have the right to make the case for ‘nonbinary’ drivers licenses and documents, but they are not entitled to receive taxpayer dollars to make that case,” CEO John Hart said.

“If drivers want to self-identify as ‘nonbinary’ or anything else, such as their spirit animal (say a goat or cheetah), they can do so under the First Amendment, but Governor Braun may refrain from subsidizing such identifications,” Hart said.

Indiana is a red state with Republican voters and conservative legislators. It should be run like one.

Matt Lamb is an associate editor for The College Fix and previously worked for Students for Life of America and Turning Point USA. He lives in Indiana with his wife and two kids.