Supreme Court Allows Trump’s Passport Gender Policy
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday permitted President Trump to enforce his policy requiring passport applicants to list their sex as stated on their birth certificates. This decision reverses a lower court’s injunction that had paused the policy and allowed individuals to select a gender marker as male (M), female (F), or X (neither) on their passports.
Background of Passport Gender Markers
Since 1976, passports have included male and female sex markers. For more than 30 years, citizens were allowed to request passports reflecting their gender identity rather than the sex on their birth certificates. However, the option to select an “X” gender marker was introduced only in 2021, under President Biden’s administration.
Opposition to Trump's Policy
A group of plaintiffs, including Ashton Orr, a transgender man who faced wrongful suspicion by airport security due to having a passport showing a female sex marker, challenged the policy. They argued it would:
- Harm transgender and non-binary individuals
- Undermine the government's capacity to accurately identify citizens
- Be motivated by unconstitutional transphobia, violating the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause
“Trump’s policy would hurt transgender and non-binary individuals, harm the government’s ability to identify citizens, and was motivated by unconstitutional transphobia in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee to equal protection of the law.”
Current Status
The Supreme Court’s approval is not a final judgment but allows the passport policy to be implemented while further legal challenges proceed in lower courts.
Author’s summary: The Supreme Court temporarily permits enforcement of Trump’s birth certificate–based passport gender marker policy amid ongoing legal disputes over its impact on transgender rights and government identification.