A transgender Mexican immigrant wants a federal court to strike down an Indiana law barring him from changing his name because he's not a U.S. citizen.
Indiana law says only U.S. citizens may legally change their names. This excludes John Doe, who is withholding his name out of privacy concerns. He's a Mexican immigrant granted asylum and a transgender man living in Indiana.
"Transgender immigrants essentially out themselves as trans every time they show their IDs."
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday on his behalf.
Doe's female birth name is still on his Indiana ID – and he says that leads to frustration and fear for himself and his family.
"I was pulled over while driving," he says. "The officer asked for my ID and then refused to believe it was mine. He said I was playing games and that he would arrest me unless I showed him my real ID. I was terrified. Finally my wife was able to calm him down and explain the situation. Pointing to me, the officer told her, ‘Take it or her or she or whatever it is away.'"
MALDEF attorneys argue the law discriminates against people based on their citizenship, and that there's no legitimate reason for it.
MALDEF attorney Matthew Barragan says Indiana's law violates Doe's constitutional right not to disclose personal, private information.
"Transgender immigrants essentially out themselves as trans every time they show their IDs if that ID shows the name they were assigned at birth," Barragan says. "This makes them extremely vulnerable to hostility, discrimination and even violence."
Barragan adds Indiana's law is the only one of its kind they can find.