Unlike other trans-hostile states, Indiana has a database of people who have requested gender marker amendments to their documents.
In a worst-case scenario, trans Hoosiers with documents that don’t reflect their sex at birth could be charged with a felony for “committing fraud,” earning two and a half years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Key to the Kansas revocation scheme was keeping tabs on transgender people who’ve sought changes to their identity documents.
A database with that information identifies exactly who possesses the documents that the state wants to revoke, clearing the way to do it without a costly and time-consuming manual review of every birth certificate and driver’s license in state and county records.
Indiana, however, has long been compiling lists of trans people in the state based on identity document change requests. One method is straightforward: requests for gender marker changes to both driver’s licenses and birth certificates are flagged in the state’s records system.
Another is a backdoor method: following passage of a “gender binary” bill in Indiana last year, the Department of Health was instructed to forward all trans people’s gender amendment requests to the Office of Attorney General Todd Rokita, while the AG “awaits guidance” on the new bill, Vaca was told. As those requests accumulate, they’re added to a database of trans Hoosiers.
Vaca also confirmed that the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles internally flagged gender marker changes when they were still possible.
Should Rokita and the rest of the Republican state leadership decide to follow Kansas’ lead and revoke trans Hoosiers’ identity documents, it’ll be as easy as sending a letter to a mailing list already in their possession. Court records indicate the number of altered birth certificates alone is 1,558.
If you're in Indiana, call your fucking reps. It doesn't matter if you're cis or trans, call your fucking reps. If you're trans, get in touch with the Indiana ACLU and offer them whatever information you can about how this would affect you. Ditto Lambda Legal, who are also monitoring situations like these.
Don't let them do in Indiana what they're doing to me and my fellow trans people in Kansas.
And, once again, if you're anywhere else in the country, call and express concern over what's happening in Kansas and what may happen soon in Indiana. Pressure them not to follow suit. Better yet, pressure them to put protections in place for trans people.
