The ACLU of Indiana sued Indiana after it halted a practice of updating gender markers on birth certificates for gender-diverse Hoosiers. (Whitney Downard/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana (ACLU) filed a class action lawsuit on Friday challenging a Gov. Mike Braun executive order that ended the process for updating gender markers on state documents, specifically birth certificates.
Complying with the executive action, the Vital Records Division of the Indiana Department of Health has halted the process for approving changes to gender markers that have been ordered by the courts. The plaintiff is a 15-year-old girl who was born in Indiana but now lives in Ohio and can’t get an amended birth certificate.
“Transgender Hoosiers have a right to accurate birth certificates to live safely and authentically. Court-ordered changes to birth certificates are common for a number of reasons, and to deny trans people the right to change these important documents is discrimination,” ACLU Legal Director Ken Falk said in a statement.
Braun’s executive order mirrors a similar one from President Donald Trump, which he signed on his first day in office.
“The Executive Order is disconnected from the reality that transgender persons and other gender-diverse persons exist in Indiana. The reality that gender identity may differ from the sex assigned at birth is a matter of science and medicine and also is recognized by courts, including the United States Supreme Court,” the lawsuit asserts.
Adopted Hoosiers or those changing their name can get updated birth certificates, which are used to get driver’s licenses, open bank accounts, enroll in school and more. Having a document with another gender can complicate access to these services for gender diverse Hoosiers.
“Have to present a birth certificate that identifies (the plaintiff) as ‘male’ will immediately create a risk of ‘outing’ her as transgender to all who view the birth certificate, or may result in others questioning whether her birth certificate is authentic or genuine as she has a female name and appears in all respects to be a girl and will only appear more feminine in the future,” the lawsuit said.
Previously, gender marker changes on birth certificates could occur following a court order.
The 19-page complaint maintains that the executive order violates privacy rights and discriminates against certain classes of Hoosiers, a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The underlying executive order directs state agencies to respect the “biological binary,” defining sex, gender, woman, man, female and male. According to the text, gender is synonymous with sex, defined as a person’s “immutable biological classification as either male or female.”
The order does not acknowledge the existence of intersex or transgender Hoosiers.
“It is the official position of Indiana’s Executive Branch that modern gender ideology is inconsistent with this fundamental and deeply rooted legal distinction between men and women,” the order read. “Modern gender ideology attempts to replace the biological category of sex with an ever-shifting concept of self-assessed gender identity.”
The ACLU will host a virtual press conference Friday afternoon.
This story will be updated.
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Whitney Downard
ACLU sues after state stops updating gender markers on birth certificates