Same-sex sexual activity legal? Legal since 1977 | Adoption Yes | |
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Gender identity/expression State does not require SRS to alter sex on birth certificate Discrimination protections Sexual orientation and gender identity protections in state employment Recognition of
relationships Same-sex marriage legal since 2014 | ||
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in the U.S. state of Indiana face some legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Same-sex marriage has been legal in Indiana since October 6, 2014, when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider an appeal in the case of Baskin v. Bogan.
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Legality of same-sex sexual activity
Indiana decriminalized same-sex sexual activity in 1977. The age of consent is 16, regardless of gender and sexual orientation.
Recognition of same-sex relationships
Same-sex marriages are recognized and performed in Indiana under a federal court decision in October 2014.
Annual attempts to adopt a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman have failed since 2004. Indiana requires that two separately elected legislatures approve an amendment for it to be put to a popular vote. The proposed amendment passed both houses of the legislature in 2005, and then again in 2011. On June 25, 2014, U. S. District Court Judge Young declared Indiana's same-sex marriage ban to be unconstitutional, and same-sex couples immediately began to secure marriage licenses. However, the ruling was appealed. On October 6, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal, effectively legalizing same-sex marriage in Indiana.
Domestic partnerships
There is no recognition of domestic partnerships at the state level in Indiana.
In 1997, Bloomington established domestic partnerships for unmarried city employees.
Carmel has established domestic partnerships for unmarried city employees.
On August 13, 2012, the Indianapolis City-County Council, in a 20-8 bipartisan vote in favor of establishing domestic partnerships for all married and unmarried employees of the city and county. On August 23, 2012, Mayor Greg Ballard signed it into law. On January 1, 2013, the law went into effect.
Discrimination protections
Governor Joe Kernan issued an executive order in 2004 protecting state employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation as well as gender identity and expression. In 2005, Governor Mitch Daniels added the terms "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" to the list of protected categories in state employment covered by the state's Equal Employment Opportunity policy.
The counties of Marion, Monroe and Tippecanoe, along with the cities and towns of Anderson, Bloomington, Carmel, Columbus, Evansville, Hammond, Indianapolis, Kokomo, Lafayette, Michigan City, Muncie, Munster, New Albany, South Bend, Terre Haute, Valparaiso, West Lafayette and Zionsville, prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Lake County along with the city and town of Fort Wayne and Whitestown prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation only.
Religious objections
On March 26, 2015, Governor Mike Pence signed Indiana Senate Bill 101, also known as the Indiana "religious objections" bill, into law. The law's signing was met with widespread criticism by such organizations as the NCAA, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, the gamer convention Gen Con, and the Disciples of Christ. Technology company Salesforce.com said it would halt its plans to expand in the state.
Thousands protested against the policy.
Adoption and parenting
Indiana statutes permit single LGBT persons to adopt. The state Court of Appeals ruled in 2006 that unmarried couples, including same-sex couples, may adopt as well. Some local courts have also supported the right of a same-sex partner to adopt his or her same-sex partner's biological or adopted child.
In 2005, the Indiana Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that lesbian partners who agree to conceive a child through artificial insemination are both the legal parents of any children born to them.
Birth certificates
On June 30, 2016, a federal judge ruled that Indiana must allow same-sex couples to list both their names on children's birth certificates. The ruling was a result of a federal lawsuit filed by eight same-sex couples in the state, who were unable to list both parents' names on their children's birth certificates because the forms only allowed a mother and a father to be listed.
Gender identity and expression
Transgender persons in Indiana may change their legal gender following a physician’s statement that they have had appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition and a court order changing both their name and gender marker. Sex reassignment surgery is not required.
On January 12, 2017, Representative Bruce Borders introduced a bill in the Indiana House of Representatives that would prevent transgender people from changing their legal gender on their birth certificates. Freedom Indiana stated the bill denied "the very existence of transgender people, the identity they live as and the person they have always known themselves to be." One day later, Representative Cindy Kirchhofer, chair of the House Public Health Committee, denied the bill a hearing, effectively killing it.
Hate crime laws
Indiana collects data on "bias crimes" which include sexual orientation bias since 2003, but does not criminalize them as a hate crime nor alter proposed sentencing requirements due to sexual orientation bias. Gender identity is not included in the hate crime statutes as well. Such hate crimes, however, are banned federally under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.