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Public can comment on proposed BMV rule to ban gender marker changes

A wall at a Bureau of Motor Vehicles branch displays the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles logo. The logo on the wall is between an American flag and an Indiana flag. The logo is a large circle. On the outer edge is texts that reads Bureau of Motor Vehicles at the top, Indiana at the bottom. In the center of the circle is the gold torch and stars from the Indiana flag along with the letters B M V.
Lauren Chapman
/
IPB News
A proposed rule at the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles would ban people from changing the gender marker on their license.

The public currently has a chance to weigh in on a proposed rule by the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles to ban people from changing the gender marker on their driver’s license.

The rule seeks to comply with an executive order issued by Gov. Mike Braun earlier this year.

The proposed rule cites a recent Indiana Court of Appeals case that said “gender” on a BMV credential means “sex” — and, more specifically, the binary options male and female.

That aligns with an executive order issued by the governor in March that directs state agencies to “enforce the biological binary of man and woman” — something advocates say dangerously dehumanizes transgender Hoosiers.

READ MORE: IDOH halts gender change requests on birth records to comply with Braun executive order

Join the conversation and sign up for our weekly text group: the Indiana Two-Way. Your comments and questions help us find the answers you need on statewide issues, including our project Civically, Indiana.

The public can comment on the rule via mail or e-mail by July 18. The email address is BMVLegal@bmv.in.gov. The mailing address is:

LSA Document #25-321 Credential Documentation Requirements

Kevin Kolbus

Indiana Government Center North

100 North Senate Avenue, Room N404

Indianapolis, IN 46204

Hoosiers can also attend an in-person hearing at the Indiana Government Center in Indianapolis on July 22.

Under the current rulemaking timeline, the rule would take effect in October.

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

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Brandon Smith has covered the Statehouse for Indiana Public Broadcasting for more than a decade, spanning three governors and a dozen legislative sessions. He's also the host of Indiana Week in Review, a weekly political and policy discussion program seen and heard across the state. He previously worked at KBIA in Columbia, Missouri and WSPY in Plano, Illinois. His first job in radio was in another state capitol - Jefferson City, Missouri - as a reporter for three stations around the Show-Me State.