Parents, transgender advocates oppose Indiana ban on driver's license gender changes

Indiana may remove the ability for people to change their gender on state-issued ID cards, including driver’s licenses. The possible change follows an executive order issued by Gov. Mike Braun that directs state agencies to “enforce the biological binary of man and woman.”

On Friday, more than 75 people showed up to support the state’s transgender and nonbinary communities at a second hearing about the ban held by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The state has had a legal process to change gender on IDs for years. If the BMV’s proposed rule is adopted, it would end that option.

State Sen. J.D. Ford (D-Indianapolis), who spoke at the hearing in the Indiana Government Center South, asked the room to raise hands: Nearly the whole audience opposed the changes. At least one person supported them.

The speakers included parents of transgender children, LGBTQ nonprofit leaders, clergy and transgender residents. They warned that the changes would out transgender Hoosiers by forcibly disclosing their identities to anyone who sees an ID.

"We know that trans people face higher rates of violence, unemployment, and by them allowing this [rule] to pass, you’re passing a message to Hoosiers that are trans saying, ‘No, you don’t matter,’” said DeOnyae-Dior Valentina, who is transgender and the founder, president and CEO of the organization Strength Over Struggle, which is focused on supporting queer and transgender BIPOC communities. “‘You don’t need to be safe. You don’t need to be housed. You don’t need to be alive.’"

WFYI obtained written public comments leading up to the first public hearing in July. The records included 1,674 pages of emails in opposition and 19 pages in support of the rule change.

In a statement, the BMV said the agency filed the proposal a second time after Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office “advised that a second public comment period and hearing should be held because so many substantive comments were submitted during the first public comment period.”

“Each and every opinion will be filed in the record for review. The BMV is committed to maintaining accurate records for each customer within the parameters outlined in Indiana law,” it continued.

Leaders from advocacy organizations at the hearing questioned why the state would implement a rule that would harm people despite the large public response in opposition.

Emma Vosicky, executive director of GenderNexus — which provides support and services to people who are gender diverse — said if the rule is changed, many people would be negatively affected.

“To be so bold as to act as if nobody was going to be hurt is almost unconscionable,” Vosicky told WFYI. “So I’m really hoping that they actually listened today, and that they keep a rule in place that’s been around for a minimum of 16 years and hasn’t caused any harm, but instead has improved individuals’ lives.”

IYG CEO Chris Paulsen told WFYI that if the ability to change gender markers on IDs is removed, LGBTQ youth will suffer.

“Why are we back here again? Are they just going to keep doing this until they get the results they want? Or are they actually going to listen to what their rule says they’re supposed to do and listen to public comment and make rules based on that?” said Paulsen.

One parent of an adult transgender son said that state IDs have to be used multiple times a week for bank transactions, getting a job or an apartment, or visiting the doctor’s office.

“Outing people as transgender puts them at significant risk of substantial harm … It puts them in danger of being harassed, discriminated against, beaten and even killed. And so there are very significant harms to having an identification,” said Ken Inskeep, who also is a co-founder of GEKCO, or Gender Expansive Kids & Co., which provides support for families of transgender and nonbinary children.

Comment deadline Friday

People can still submit comments to the BMV before midnight Friday. A spokesperson for the agency said it will submit public comment period materials to the attorney general’s and governor’s offices soon. A timeline for a decision will be up to their discretion, according to the spokesperson. The email address is BMVLegal@bmv.in.gov.

Contact WFYI reporter Zak Cassel at zcassel@wfyi.org.