As Election Day approaches, the American Civil Liberties Union is taking steps to make sure transgender and gender non-conforming voters are treated with respect.
During Wednesday’s Starke County Election Board meeting, Clerk Vicki Cooley presented board members with a letter and a list of tips for poll workers that she received from the ACLU of Indiana’s LGBTQ Rights Project. “It’s basically if we want to help somebody, we should not address them as ‘ma’am’ or ‘sir,’ I think, in a nutshell,” Cooley said.
The ACLU does not actually prohibit the words “ma’am” and “sir” in its list of suggestions, but it does caution poll workers not to assume that a person is male or female. It also says never to refer to someone who is transgender or gender non-conforming as “it” or “whatever.”
The ACLU does note that voters’ identification cards may not always appear to match their gender presentation. They say if that does happen, it’s okay to ask what pronouns to use, but it’s not okay to ask what a person’s “real name” is. Additionally, the ACLU points out that as long as all the other legal requirements are met, transgender and gender non-conforming people are entitled to vote.
Cooley expressed confidence in Starke County’s poll workers. “We’ve not had any problems, I don’t think, in our county, of addressing this,” she said. “We’re polite to everyone.”
But Election Board President Harrison Fields said that just because the ACLU sent the letter out doesn’t mean he has to agree with it.
ACLU Tip Sheet sent to Starke County Clerk’s Office:
