Court rules Indiana may require biological sex on birth certificates rather than retroactive listings of 'gender identity'

Tuesday, September 30, 2025 at 7:00 PM

A federal district court handed a victory Monday to Indiana’s policy of listing biological sex rather than gender identity on birth certificates. The court denied a request by the Americans for Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for a preliminary injunction against the policy.

"This ruling is a win for truth, reason and, of course, common sense,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Biological sex is an undeniable fact, not a feeling to be rewritten on official documents. Indiana will continue standing firm in protecting the integrity of birth certificates, ensuring they reflect reality, not ideology."

Earlier this year, Governor Mike Braun issued an executive order reiterating that the terms “sex” and “gender” in the Indiana code refer to the biological characteristic of being male or female. To implement the order, the Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) stopped changing birth certificates to list a person’s gender identity instead of the person’s sex.  

This policy change prompted a lawsuit from individuals represented by the ACLU. 

The federal district court declined to preliminarily enjoin Governor Braun’s executive order and IDOH’s policy. It rejected arguments that refusing to let a person self-define gender on birth certificates discriminates on the basis of sex, that transgender-identifying persons are a quasi-suspect class, and that there is a fundamental right to have gender identity listed on birth certificates.  

Read the federal court decision here. 