INDIANAPOLIS -- The ACLU of Indiana filed a federal class action complaint on Friday in Indiana federal court, challenging Indiana Governor Mike Braun's recent gender-related executive order that strips transgender Indiana residents of the ability to update their gender markers on their birth certif icates. According to a 19-page complaint, filed on Friday in the Indianapolis division of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, this complaint was filed by a 15-year-old transgender Indiana girl and her legal guardian. Braun signs first bill into law, establishes new online agricultural portal The girl, who was born in Indiana and now resides in Ohio, received a court order allowing her to receive a new birth certificate with an updated gender marker. However, the lawsuit alleges that with the implementation of Braun's new executive order, it is now prohibited for a certificate to be issued with a new gender marker. Braun's executive order Braun signed Executive Order 25-36 on March 4, a document which states that it aims to ensure "Indiana law is based on the reality of biological sex rather than extreme new gender theories." OrderDownload The order, similar to an order signed by President Donald Trump at the federal level, defined sex as either male or female, and said that gender was "synonymous with sex." Braun said that modern gender ideology "falsely asserts there is a vast spectrum of genders that are disconnected from one's sex." The order said that Indiana state funds cannot be used to promote gender ideology. Gov. Braun signs executive orders that take aim at ‘extreme gender ideology,’ participation in women’s sports "Modern gender ideology is internally inconsistent, diminishes sex and gender as identifiable categories, yet nevertheless maintains that it is possible for a person to be born in the wrong sexed body," the order reads. What does the complaint say? According to Indiana law, additions and/or corrections can be made to a birth certificate after "adequate documentary evidence" is obtained and approved by a court order. This includes instances where a child's paternity has been established or when adoptions occur. The complaint claims that Braun's new executive order has altered this practice for the Department of Health regarding gender markers on birth certificates. On March 14, the complaint claims that the department issued a statewide notice that said: "As of March 4, 2025, per Executive Order 25-36 issued by Indiana Governor Mike Braun, the Indiana Department of Health Division Vital Records will not process gender change request(s) for Indiana birth records." The plaintiff, the 15-year-old transgender girl from Indiana, was granted a change of name in an Ohio court. However, because she was born in Indiana, her gender marker change needed to be conducted through an Indiana judicial proceeding. Indiana’s education secretary reacts to Trump’s education department order "Obtaining a gender marker change so that her birth certificate matches her gender identity is extremely important to (the girl) as it reaffirms her identity as a young woman," the complaint reads. On March 14, the documents said that a trial court granted the gender marker change and recognized her current legal name. However, because of the order, the gender marker on the certificate cannot be changed and will continue to label her as a male. The legal team believes this is "extremely problematic." The documents said that presenting a birth certificate with a different gender could out the girl as transgender to all who view the document. Others could question the validity of the document, because of the girl's appearance and name. The lack of change could give the girl difficulties in obtaining a driver's license and other documents. The legal team argues it would also force the girl to disclose herself as transgender to strangers as well as in situations where she is put at risk of harm. “The Executive Order is disconnected from the reality that transgender persons and other gender-diverse persons exist in Indiana,” the complaint reads. “The reality that gender identity may differ from the sex assigned at birth is a matter of science and medicine and also is recognized by courts, including the United States Supreme Court.”  Braun signs order directing Indiana colleges, universities to review antisemitism policies The complaint argues that there is no legitimate governmental interest that justifies the order, as well as the outcome of prohibiting gender markers from being changed, even when it is court ordered. “While the Governor is free to have his opinions about transgender and gender-diverse persons, the Executive Order and its implementation is a targeted attempt to impose hardships on a disfavored group and represents discrimination on the grounds of both sex and transgender status," the complaint reads. The documents said that the goal of this particular complaint is to enter a preliminary injunction to enjoin Executive Order 25-36, allowing Indiana residents to obtain birth certificates with a changed gender marker consistent with their gender identity and court orders. “Transgender Hoosiers have a right to accurate birth certificates to live safely and authentically," Ken Falk, the legal director for the ACLU of Indiana, said in a news release regarding the complaint. "Court-ordered changes to birth certificates are common for a number of reasons, and to deny trans people the right to change these important documents is discrimination.”  ...read more read less