A transgender Mexican man who has been granted asylum in the United States has filed a lawsuit against Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, the Republican vice presidential nominee, and two other state officials over a law that bans noncitizens from changing their legal name.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal district court in Indiana alleges that the law causes transgender people to be humiliated and discriminated against.
“It is embarrassing to present an ID that doesn’t show who I am,” the plaintiff, who identified himself in court filings as “John Doe, formerly Jane Doe,” told BuzzFeed in a phone interview. “It shouldn’t be be this hard just to be yourself.”
“A couple weeks ago, I had to call [an] insurance company to change records, and they wouldn’t talk to me because they said my voice doesn’t match my name,” he said. “I had to go through different procedures to show it was me.”
The suit was filed by lawyers at the Transgender Law Center and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Indiana Attorney General Gregory Zoeller and Marion County Clerk Myla A. Eldridge were also named as defendants.
“Without a legal name change, I am forced to use an I.D. that is inconsistent with who I am and puts me in danger of harassment, violence, and being outed as transgender whenever I present it. I am simply asking for equal treatment under the law,” Mr. Doe said in a statement.
According to a press release by the Transgender Law Center, Mr. Doe was born a girl in Mexico and immigrated to Indiana with his family when he was 6 years old. Although he has lived his entire adult life as a man and is recognized as a male on all official U.S. documents and his Indiana state ID, he was unable to change his name because of Indiana House Bill 1047, which made U.S. citizenship a requirement for a legal name change.
Mr. Pence was not in office when the law was passed in 2010, BuzzFeed noted.
The complaint said the law violated Mr. Doe’s First and 14th Amendment rights and is seeking an injunction against its enforcement.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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