Indiana advances bill that would 'mandate discrimination' against trans people, ACLU warns

A new bill advancing in Indiana contains multiple policies targeting transgender people, including preventing them from updating their documents or using facilities based on gender identity.

The Indiana state Senate passed in a 37 to 8 vote last week S.B. 182, which would create legal definitions of "male" and "female" based on sex assigned at birth, or as the bill states, "anatomy, hormones, and the gametes oriented toward fertilization without regard to the individual's psychological, behavioral, social, chosen, or subjective experience of gender." It now heads to the Republican-controlled state House of Representatives.

Related: More states are pushing to stop legally recognizing trans people in public life

The law would prevent trans people from changing the sex listed on their birth certificates unless they have "a medically verifiable disorder of sex development." It would also mandate that students at public schools, charter schools, and public colleges use single-sex facilities such as bathrooms, locker rooms, and dorms based on this definition.

Individuals would be permitted to sue other individuals, schools, or companies found to be in violation of the law. Though the damages are unspecified, they could include injunctive relief, declaratory judgement, as well as costs and reasonable attorney's fees.

Incarcerated trans people would also be forced into facilities based on their sex assigned at birth with no exceptions. Trans inmates are 10 times more likely to report being sexually victimized than other prisoners, federal data shows. More than half of nearly 300 surveyed incarcerated trans people reported being sexually assaulted during their current prison sentences, according to a 2024 report, with over 31 percent saying violence from fellow prisoners is the primary reason they feel unsafe.

Related: Trump will ban trans women from women's prisons by removing trans inmates from rape protections

The ACLU of Indiana said in a statement that the bill, if passed, would essentially be "mandating discrimination against transgender and intersex people."

"When trans people are denied correct documents and access to public spaces that reflect their identity, it can result in discrimination, harassment, and even violence in their everyday lives," the group wrote. "While bathroom bans claim to protect women, similar laws have led to intimidation and harassment against both trans people and cisgender women who don’t fit society’s narrow expectations for femininity. No one should be targeted by legislators just for being who they are. We oppose this unnecessary, harmful bill."