The IU School of Medicine canceled its LGBTQ+ Health Care Conference, according to a note posted on the event's page.
The move comes after a flurry of government action against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at the state and federal levels.
"The statement from the school is that the IU School of Medicine LGBTQ+ Health Care Conference has been canceled," Katie Duffey, a spokesperson for the IU School of Medicine, said in an email.
The annual conference is intended for health care professionals, patients and community groups to improve health care and identify unique health risks for LGBTQ+ individuals.
The Indianapolis Business Journal first reported the cancelation. The conference, which began in 2017, was set to take place virtually in April.
Chris Geidner, a journalist and legal expert, posted on his blog that he’d been asked Monday to be a keynote speaker at the conference, only to be told Wednesday that it had been canceled.
Geidner told the Indiana Daily Student on Saturday he sees the move as connected to the snowball of executive orders rolling out of President Donald Trump’s administration in recent days, leaving state institutions unsure of what’s permitted. The tsunami of legislation, Geidner said, can lead to self-censoring even before a government entity steps in.
“Everybody is in an awkward position right now, and nobody is quite sure what they’re supposed to say, what they can say,” he said. “Which is, I would argue, kind of the point, and how they want people to be feeling.”
Gov. Mike Braun has pushed to dismantle DEI initiatives throughout Indiana. On the day after his inauguration, Braun signed an executive order eliminating DEI programs in state government agencies.
And with a simple, “vaguely worded” email, Geidner said, an eight-year-old conference was canceled seemingly without notice to the IU community. The statement provided to IDS by the School of Medicine, Geidner said, was lacking.
“That’s bad,” Geidner said in response to Duffey’s statement. “I think that if something exists, has existed for several years and is canceled, that had benefited both your academic community and a broader community, that there absolutely should be a specific reason given.”
Geidner said it's unfortunate that medical providers will not be able to attend the accessible, virtual conference to best learn how to care for LGBTQ+ patients.
“Their patients aren’t going away just because the Trump administration says certain words aren’t allowed,” he said. “They’re still going to have to deal with those patients.”
He said the School of Medicine has a responsibility to its students to provide a more detailed statement about its decision to cancel.
“It sets a really poor example to current medical students about how they are able to best do their jobs, by literally tying a hand behind their back,” Geidner said.
The IU School of Medicine hosts a list of LGBTQ+ health care resources on its website.
This story may be updated with more information.
