Indiana legislature fails to restore two genders to driver's licenses

Indiana lawmakers did not act to restore gender options on driver's licenses as "male" or "female" after the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles announced it would allow for a third "non-specified gender," but instead chose to require a changed birth certificate, not a doctor's note, to allow the change to the driver's license to take place.

Highlights

By (CNA/EWTN)
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
3/22/2019 (5 years ago)

Published in U.S.

Keywords: Indiana legislature, two genders, driver's licenses

Indianapolis, Ind., (CNA) - State Rep. Matt Hostettler, R-Fort Branch, had filed an amendment to Senate Bill 324, whose main focus is providing a special disabled parking placard to eligible military veterans in Indiana, instead of a disabled license plate. 
The House of Representatives' Republicans considered support for Hostettler's amendment, among other proposals, during a March 19 afternoon meeting, the Times of Northwest Indiana reports.

After the House reconvened, Hostettler did not call his proposal for a vote and the bill advanced unchanged for final approval. Any lawmaker can propose inserting the language of the amendment into any germane legislation until the close of the legislative session, which must take place on or before April 29. 
Under the bureau's new policy set to begin this month, a third gender option will be indicated by an "X" on driver's licenses and state ID cards, the NBC television affiliate WTHR reports. 
Applicants seeking a "non-specified" option must provide a certified, amended birth certificate or a signed and dated physician's statement attesting that they have permanently changed their gender.
 The Bureau of Motor Vehicles said it made the changes based on resident requests and on credential standards recommended by the American Academy of Motor Vehicle Administrators.
 On March 20 the House Roads and Transportation Committee voted to revise Senate Bill 182 so that only a certified and amended birth certificate may be used to change the gender listed on a driver's license or a state identification. 
The State Department of Health usually requires a court order to change the gender listed on an Indiana birth certificate. In cases where a baby's sex is undetermined at birth, such as anatomically ambiguous genitals, the gender is listed as "U." It is unclear whether a birth certificate can subsequently be changed to something other than "male" or "female," the Times of Northwest Indiana reports. 
Under current practice, applicants for a gender change may submit a state form completed by a licensed physician to confirm that an individual has undergone a treatment reputed to be a gender change. A physician may also submit a signed and dated statement on office letterhead to that effect, provided the wording is substantially similar to the language required by the state's administrative code.
 The vote in the Republican-controlled House committee was split along party lines.
 State Rep. Holli Sullivan said she was not trying to eliminate the non-specific gender designation "X" but wanted the birth certificate to be the sole document to establish gender. 
"It does not say that you cannot change your gender. They still have the process to do that," she said, arguing that her proposal takes the motor vehicles department out of making medical decisions. 
One opponent of the change, State Rep. Mara Candelaria Reardon, D-Munster, said that reading a note is not a medical decision and compared the practice to how the Bureau of Motor Vehicles approves handicapped placards. 
"What happens to the people that are in transition and they're not one or the other yet?" asked Candelaria Reardon. "They're in the middle of a transition. How do we address their concerns? How do they get a certified birth certificate?" 
Sullivan said she did not intend to make anything more difficult, but wanted to put together a process that can be followed to ensure there won't be questions about the process. 
Katie Blair, director of advocacy and public policy at American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, said the modification would force self-identified transgender people to undergo "the burdensome and costly legal process of changing their birth certificate in order to update their ID." 
Residents born in states that do not allow such modifications to birth certificates will be unable to get "accurate identification," she said, according to the Times of Northwest Indiana reports.

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Blair previously commented on Hostettler's proposal to remove the unspecified gender option and restore two genders, calling this a "retrograde attempt" to "mandate a definition of gender that would have major, long-term implications for the transgender community." 
The amendment would "force gender non-binary people to carry identification that does not accurately identify them," said Blair. "For people who are non-binary, identification that fails to affirm who they are can trigger the distress of gender dysphoria and contribute to widespread discrimination." Identification that is "affirming and accurate" would help reduce discrimination, Blair argued.
 Oregon, Maine, Minnesota, and California offer similar non-binary gender identification, in addition to Washington, D.C., and New York City. The Maryland and New York legislatures are considering proposals to change their identification regarding gender.