Make wishtv.com your home page

Indiana court rules in transgender birth certificate case

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – The Indiana Court of Appeals has clarified the process transgender residents can use to legally change their names or birth certificates.

The (Northwest Indiana) Times reports the court ruled unanimously in reversing a Tippecanoe County judge’s decision that required notices about name or gender changes be published at least three times in a newspaper in the petitioner’s home county before a name-change could occur.

The court found that county judges can’t add conditions to requests for gender changes to birth certificates if a good faith test is satisfied.

A 2014 ruling by the court found that gender changes to birth certificates are allowed if a judge can determine it’s not being made for an unlawful purpose.

State law requires publication when changing names, with exemptions for some individuals.