Latest news with #Braun
Indianapolis Star
5 hours ago
- Health
- Indianapolis Star
Transgender Hoosiers push back on ban on driver's license gender changes. Will opposition matter?
Dozens of Hoosiers testified on July 22 in opposition to a proposed rule change by the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles that would prohibit gender marker changes on driver's licenses, an effort stemming from Gov. Mike Braun's executive order from March that aimed to promote the 'biological dichotomy between men and women' and discourage 'modern gender ideology.' BMV leaders, though, likely don't have much power to significantly alter the proposed rule since the agency has to comply with Braun's order. "While we are committed to ensuring that all voices and points of view are heard and considered," Gregory Dunn, executive director of communications for the BMV said in a statement, "we also have a responsibility to carry out our duties as defined by law." What was intended to be an hour-long public hearing stretched nearly three hours as speakers criticized what some described as an intentionally anti-transgender initiative by state elected officials. Among them were transgender Hoosiers and advocates alike, including a 15-year-old nonbinary teenager looking to get their driver's license and a man with an intersex partner. Before Gov. Braun's order, people could change gender markers on their licenses by obtaining a court order, a process speakers described as arduous. Under the proposed rule change, the gender on an individual's driver's license must reflect their biological sex determined at birth. An 'X' will no longer be allowed in place of a gender marker for nonbinary people. While driver's licenses that have already changed will remain valid, new licenses issued must follow the updated guidelines. Shortly after Braun's executive order, the Indiana Department of Health told local health departments to stop accepting requests to change genders on birth certificates. When a health department subsequently refused to change the gender of a teenage transgender girl on the birth certificate, the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana sued the governor for allegedly violating the equal protection and privacy clauses of the U.S. Constitution. The executive order has not been the first challenge to the BMV's policy of changing gender markers. In 2020, then-Attorney General Curtis Hill issued an advisory opinion saying the BMV did not have the authority to issue an 'X' as a gender marker. That opinion eventually led to an Indiana Court of Appeals decision in 2024 that determined 'gender' has the same legal meaning as 'sex" when it comes to laws pertaining to motor vehicles, a precedent that was cited by a regulatory analysis of the proposed rule change. That same regulatory analysis became a point of contention for some speakers, specifically one line that listed 'impacted parties' as 'none.' Those who testified cited scientific studies, legal principles, Bible verses and poems. They described hypothetical scenarios where the proposed rule change could cause more confusion at traffic stops, in hospitals and even when issuing a description for a missing person. Among the speakers was Kit Malone, a transgender woman and former strategist for the ACLU who said the change will impact transgender Hoosiers in everyday scenarios where IDs are required, like bars, movie theaters and grocery store checkouts, because many will not look like the gender listed on their ID. 'I updated my ID because it was getting weird not to,' she said. 'I was getting looks.' Eli Lucas, a transgender man who works for a Fortune 500 company in Indianapolis, said the change affects hardworking taxpayers like himself. He said he feared the change could complicate police interactions, enhance the risk of violence and create humiliation in everyday interactions that require an ID. 'We transgender Hoosiers are your neighbors, your coworkers, your friends and your family who simply want to live without fear,' he said. Others spoke to the broader political climate, referencing a pastor who delivered a sermon in June at an Indianapolis church where he told congregants to pray for the deaths of LGBTQ+ people. Some who testified said they had friends who had left Indiana because of its attitude toward transgender people, but that they loved the state they grew up in too much to follow them. Amy Kleyla, a combat veteran and 50501 protest organizer, said the national environment had gotten increasingly hostile as well. She said she transitioned 28 years ago but has never experienced as much hate as she has this year. 'That hate is force fed into the American people right now,' Kleyla said. The BMV did not provide details about how much the agency could modify the proposed changes to still comply with Braun's executive order. "Hoosiers have too many pressing needs to spend their tax dollars trying to redefine what it means to be a boy or a girl," Braun previously said when he signed the executive order. "Today's executive order will end any confusion about our state's policy on this issue so we can focus on my goal to secure freedom and opportunity for all Hoosiers."
Boston Globe
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Far beyond Harvard, conservative efforts to reshape higher education are gaining steam
Advertisement 'What's happened nationally is now affecting Indiana,' said Beckley, who bought Harvard caps in bulk and passes them out to friends. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Officials in conservative states took aim at higher education before President Donald Trump began his second term, driven in part by the belief that colleges are out of touch — too liberal and loading up students with too much debt. The first efforts focused on critical race theory, an academic framework centered on the idea that racism is embedded in the nation's institutions, and then on diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Since Trump took office, officials in states including Indiana, Florida, Ohio, Texas, Iowa and Idaho increasingly have focused on university governance — rules for who picks university presidents and boards and how much control they exert over curriculums and faculty tenure. Advertisement As at Harvard, which Trump has decried as overly influenced by liberal thinking, those state officials have sought to reduce the power of faculty members and students. 'They've realized that they can take a bit of a step further, that they can advance their policy priorities through those levers they have through the state university system,' said Preston Cooper, a senior fellow who studies higher education policy at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. State officials push for more conservative leadership In Indiana, Braun said he picked new trustees who will guide the school 'back in the right direction.' They include an anti-abortion attorney and a former ESPN host who was disciplined because she criticized the company's policy requiring employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Braun's administration has ramped up scrutiny of hiring practices at colleges statewide. Indiana's attorney general, Todd Rokita, has sent letters to the University of Notre Dame, Butler University and DePauw University questioning the legality of their DEI programs. Butler, a private, liberal arts school in Indianapolis, was founded by an abolitionist in the decade leading up to the Civil War and admitted women and students of color from the start. 'I hope that Butler will uphold the standards they were founded on,' said Edyn Curry, president of Butler's Black Student Union. In Florida, the state university system board in June rejected longtime academic Santa Ono for the presidency at the University of Florida, despite a unanimous vote of approval by the school's own Board of Trustees. The unprecedented reversal followed criticism from conservatives about Ono's past support for DEI programs. That followed the conservative makeover of New College of Florida, a small liberal arts school once known as the state's most progressive. After Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed a group of conservatives to its governing board, many faculty left, including Amy Reid, who now manages a team focused on higher education at the free-expression group PEN America. Advertisement 'When our students started organizing at New College, one of their slogans was 'Your Campus is Next,'' said Reid, who saw the gender studies program she directed defunded and then cut. 'So no, we're not surprised when you see other states redefining what can be in a general education class, because we've seen it happen already.' Changes have met limited resistance The changes at several public universities are proceeding without battles of the kind seen at Harvard. In a standoff seen widely as a test of private universities' independence, Harvard has filed lawsuits against the administration's moves to cut its federal funding and block its ability to host international students. In Iowa, new DEI restrictions are taking effect in July for community colleges. And the board that governs the state's three public universities is weighing doing something similar to Idaho, where a new law imposes restrictions on requiring students to take DEI-related courses to meet graduation requirements. Historically, the Iowa board has been focused on big-picture issues like setting tuition rates and approving degree programs. Now, there's a perceived sense that faculty should not be solely responsible for academic matters and that the trustees should play a more active role, said Joseph Yockey, a professor at the University of Iowa College of Law and the former president of Iowa's faculty senate. 'What we started to see more recently is trustees losing confidence,' Yockey said. Advertisement A new law in Ohio bans DEI programs at public colleges and universities and also strips faculty of certain collective bargaining rights and tenure protections. There are few guardrails limiting how far oversight boards can change public institutions, said Isabel McMullen, a doctoral candidate at the University of Wisconsin who researches higher education. 'For a board that really does want to wreak havoc on an institution and overthrow a bunch of different programs, I think if a board is interested in doing that, I don't really see what's stopping them aside from students and faculty really organizing against it,' McMullen said. Defenders of academic freedom see threats on several fronts The initiatives on state and federal levels have led to widespread concerns about an erosion of college's independence from politics, said Isaac Kamola, director of the Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom at the American Association of University Professors. 'They have to not only face an attack from the state legislature, but also from the federal government as well,' said Kamola, who is also a professor of political science at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed a pair of bills in June that impose new limits on student protests and give gubernatorial-appointed boards that oversee the state's universities new powers to control the curriculum and eliminate degree programs. Cameron Samuels, executive director of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, an advocacy group, said politicians in the state are taking control of universities to dictate what is acceptable. 'When someone controls the dissemination of ideas, that is a really dangerous sign for the future of democracy,' Samuels said. The 21-year-old who is transgender and nonbinary went to college in Massachusetts and got into Harvard for graduate school, but as the Trump administration began targeting the institution, he instead chose to return to his home state and attend the University of Texas in Austin. Advertisement 'I at least knew what to expect,' he said.
Indianapolis Star
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Indianapolis Star
President Trump says Indiana will get $15.1M for disaster recovery efforts from spring storms
In a post on the social media platform True Social, President Donald Trump promised Indiana $15.1 million to go toward disaster relief from storms that hit the state earlier this year. The federal money comes after Trump said he talked to Indiana Gov. Mike Braun. "I just finished speaking with the Governor Mike Braun, of the Great State of Indiana, which I won BIG in 2016, 2020, and 2024. We are approving $15.1 million dollars for severe flooding and tornadoes, which took place in the early Spring. I know the State, under the leadership of Braun, will make a rapid recovery!" The post said. He also announced he granted funding to Michigan, Kentucky and West Virginia. Braun responded to the post on X, formerly Twitter, thanking the president for his leadership and approval of the critical funding. He said the money will enable Hoosier communities to recover and rebuild "stronger than ever." In April, Braun declared a state of emergency for 18 counties in the wake of storms that spawned tornadoes and heavy rain through the state and pushed rivers out of their banks. He had previously activated the Indiana National Guard to assist 41 counties with storm recovery. The order was for Bartholomew, Brown, Clark, Crawford, Dearborn, Delaware, Gibson, Hamilton, Harrison, Lake, Madison, Marshall, Martin, Owen, Perry, Posey, Spencer and Warrick counties. Declaring a state of emergency allows the Indiana Department of Homeland Security to offer financial assistance under the State Disaster Relief Fund to help cover expenses caused by the storm damage. Braun later asked for federal assistance. At least two people died during the storms.
USA Today
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Scooter Braun on Taylor Swift buying masters: 'Everybody in the end won'
Music executive Scooter Braun broke his silence on Taylor Swift buying her master recordings, saying: "The cool part, if you actually pay attention, is everybody in the end won." The comment comes just past the halfway mark of his appearance on the "Question Everything" podcast hosted by Danielle Robay. Around the 46 minute mark, Robay brings up Braun's company Ithaca Holdings and its 2019 acquisition of the rights to Swift's first six albums from Big Machine Label Group along with the work of other artists including Thomas Rhett and Florida Georgia Line. "If people didn't know you from your work with all these artists like [Justin] Bieber and Ariana [Grande], they definitely know you from the Swift saga," Robay said. "What happened?" Braun replied. Notorious Nashville: 2019 was year of feuds with Taylor Swift, Scooter Braun, NFL and cherry trees. In 2019, Taylor Swift told fans in a Tumblr post that she "wasn't given an opportunity to buy" the original recordings of her first six albums. She also said two of Braun's clients — Bieber and Kanye West — had bullied her online and described the sale of her catalog to Braun as her "worst case scenario." On the podcast, Braun responded to Swift's original statement, "Like when Taylor says she wasn't offered the masters, the reason I was under NDA is because we were in negotiations to sell it back to her. I choose to believe her that maybe they didn't tell her." Robay asked, "Who's they?" to which Braun answered, "Her team. Maybe her team didn't tell her, didn't understand the negotiations." In 2020, Braun sold the masters to Shamrock Capital, which sold them back to the superstar in May. Swift shared a letter on her website saying, "I will be forever grateful to everyone at Shamrock Capital for being the first people to ever offer this to me... I am endlessly thankful. My first tattoo might just be a huge shamrock in the middle of my forehead." Taylor Swift's fight to own her music changed recording contracts in ways good and bad Braun explained why, from a business standpoint, he believes everyone came out ahead — despite the controversy. Swift's decision to rerecord her first six albums led to surges in streaming for both the original versions and the newly released "Taylor's Versions." "She's the biggest she's ever been, the biggest artist of all time," he said referencing the global success of her Eras Tour. Braun told Robay he wished one thing had gone differently. "The only thing that I really regret is it's easy to have a monster, if you never meet them," he said. "Taylor and I have only met three times in our life, and I think at that point we hadn't seen each other in two, three years. I was managing people she wasn't a fan of, and she probably saw my name come up and thought, 'I don't like those people so I don't like him.'" The music mogul first met Swift in 2010 when Bieber opened for her on the "Fearless" tour. Follow Bryan West, the USA TODAY Network's Taylor Swift reporter, on Instagram, TikTok and X as @BryanWestTV.
Indianapolis Star
a day ago
- Politics
- Indianapolis Star
Hoosiers ask Braun, IDEM to maintain environmental rules protecting air, water and land
Hundreds of Hoosiers are asking the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to not roll back regulations meant to protect the quality of the state's land, water and air. IDEM opened a public comment period in June to solicit input on existing rules after Gov. Mike Braun ordered the agency to review environmental regulations and policies deemed excessive and burdensome. Braun's executive order, Creating Opportunity through Reduction of Excessive Environmental Regulation, asked IDEM to report opportunities to revisit or rescind regulations by July 1. The agency received more than 1,300 comments, the vast majority of which said Braun's order would weaken public health and environmental protections in the state, according to an IndyStar analysis. A letter-writing campaign initiated by the Hoosier Environmental Council accounted for more than 900 of the submitted comments. The HEC's campaign focused on sustaining regulations on four topics: wetlands protection, hazardous waste disposal, open burning and industrial stormwater permitting. Fewer than 30 submissions asked IDEM to review or rescind regulations. Sam Carpenter, executive director of HEC, said the advocacy group is calling on Braun to respond to these comments. 'We think the governor should acknowledge them and say how he's going to prioritize these issues,' Carpenter said. 'We are at a point where our natural resources, through development and other means, have become more and more restricted, more and more limited, more and more has been destroyed.' Braun, in a written statement following the public input period, wrote 'we can be good stewards of our environment without stifling growth through excessive government mandates, and I'm proud to be leading that initiative here in Indiana.' The governor's office did not respond to IndyStar's inquiry on the number of Hoosiers submitting comments requesting IDEM to not water down existing regulations. David Van Gilder, senior policy and legal director with HEC, said the group will continue raising awareness around Braun's order for deregulation. 'Hoosier Environmental Council is in favor of smart regulations,' Van Gilder said. 'We're not looking for extra bureaucracy or red tape, what we're looking for is our natural resources, our environment and our health to be protected.' Outside of HEC's campaign, other groups and individuals also submitted comments relating to Braun's order asking IDEM to roll back rules. Indiana Conservation Voters, the White River Alliance, Socially Responsible Agriculture Project, Just Transition Northwest Indiana and Save the Dunes submitted comments on behalf of their organizations. The ICV's submission, supported by hundreds of signatures, recommended regional experts uphold science-based regulations and IDEM hold hearings for regulations up for review. 'We urge IDEM to prioritize the burdens of hard-working Hoosiers and hold a public hearing and chance for comment for each and every rule and regulation you intend to rescind or alter,' the letter said. While mostly individuals wrote in asking IDEM to keep environmental regulations in place, about 25 industry groups and businesses made submissions recommending deregulation. The Indiana Energy Association, a trade organization representing investor-owned utilities across the state, wrote that a few of IDEM's regulations and policies 'may be unduly burdensome, significantly raise the cost of living for Hoosiers, are not supported by current law and the best available science, or do not benefit Indiana's environment.' The IEA's comments touched on issues of river temperature requirements, hazardous waste regulations and certain emissions monitoring. Coal mining company Peabody Midwest Mining submitted comments saying certain coal-burning utility regulations are being reconsidered by the U.S. EPA following the agency's deregulation push under President Donald Trump and IDEM should follow suit. 'Peabody support the current administration's efforts to identify and revise unnecessary and overly-burdensome regulations that have been imposed on the utility and fossil fuel industries,' the company's comments said. As the state continues its review of environmental policy, Van Gilder said HEC will continue to raise the group's concerns with the governor. 'We very politely, strongly, respectfully call on an appropriate reaction from the governor on these comments,' he said. IndyStar's environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.
