A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a passport policy that restricted gender identity options, calling the rule unconstitutional.
The State Department had been denying passports that reflected an applicant’s gender identity, instead requiring applicants to use their sex assigned at birth, under an executive order.
What did the executive order say?
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President Trump issued an executive order on Inauguration Day directing the State Department to no longer issue passports with anything other than a male or female designation.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring there are only two genders – male and female – and rejecting the idea that someone can transition from the sex assigned to them at birth. The order reversed a Biden-era policy allowing for Americans to self-select their gender on their passport application, and included an “X” for those who identify as non-binary.
Trump administration officials defended the move as a return to “biological accuracy.”
What does the judge’s ruling mean?
On Tuesday, June 17, District Judge Julia Kobick in Boston ruled the policy discriminates based on sex and is “rooted in irrational prejudice.”
She granted class-action status to the lawsuit, meaning the ban is blocked for all transgender, non-binary and intersex applicants nationwide while the lawsuit plays out.
The ruling also means that any individual whose passport is expiring within a year needs to apply for a new one or change their name or sex designation, to choose the gender that they identify with. Applicants can also still select “X” on a passport application form.
In February, a group of transgender and nonbinary plaintiffs backed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued the Trump administration over the executive order, saying it was discriminatory.
In April, Kobick ruled the Trump administration failed to provide a rationale for the new passport policy “related to an important governmental interest” and found that the policy discriminated against transgender Americans. However, that ruling applied only to the six people who were part of that lawsuit.
Tuesday’s ruling significantly expands the impact.
How is the Trump administration responding?
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly dismissed the ruling as “yet another attempt by a rogue judge to thwart President Trump’s agenda and push radical gender ideology that defies biological truth.”
“There are only two genders, there is no such thing as gender ‘X,’ and the President was given a mandate by the American people to restore common sense to the federal government,” Kelly said.
In response to the original lawsuit, the administration said the passport policy change “does not violate the equal protection guarantees of the Constitution.” It also argued the president has broad discretion in setting passport policy and that plaintiffs would not be harmed since they are still free to travel abroad.
What are critics saying?
The ACLU hailed the ruling as a major win for equal rights.
“This decision acknowledges the immediate and profound negative impact that the Trump administration’s passport policy has on the ability of people across the country to travel for work, school, and family,” Jessie Rossman, legal director at the ACLU of Massachusetts, said. “The Trump administration’s passport policy attacks the foundations of the right to privacy and the freedom for all people to live their lives safely and with dignity. We will continue to fight to stop this unlawful policy once and for all.”
