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Rokita appeals ruling on nonbinary gender marker for licenses, IDs

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita stands in the House chamber balcony. Rokita is a White man with dark, graying hair, wearing a suit.
Brandon Smith
/
IPB News
Attorney General Todd Rokita appealed a county judge's ruling that would have required the BMV to allow a nonbinary gender marker for driver's licenses and IDs.

A judge’s ruling from late last year would allow people to use a nonbinary gender marker – X – on their driver’s licenses through the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

Attorney General Todd Rokita is appealing that ruling, trying to stop such gender markers.

The BMV first adopted a policy of allowing nonbinary gender markers on licenses and IDs in 2019. But it quickly halted that after then-Attorney General Curtis Hill issued an opinion that said such a policy would need General Assembly approval.

READ MORE: BMV hears public comment on driver's license gender change proposal

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A group of anonymous Hoosiers sued. And in December 2022, they won when a Monroe County judge ruled that the BMV’s denial of a nonbinary gender marker violated the federal constitution.

Rokita wants to reverse that ruling, pursuing an appeal with the Indiana Court of Appeals.

There is no current timetable for when the court will hear the case.

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

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.