A federal judge ruled that transgender and intersex people can acquire passports marked with their preferred gender identity despite the Trump administration’s policy banning citizens from using “X” as a gender marker or changing their gender.
The district judge – Julia Kobick – expanded upon an order she issued in April, preventing Trump’s executive order from being enforced. Initially, the ruling barred the enforcement of the passport policy only for six plaintiffs involved in the case. This mandated that the State Department issue passports to participating plaintiffs with their chosen gender marker. Now, her new ruling extends the right to all trans Americans.
This will apply to anyone looking to obtain a new passport, change their sex designation or update their name on their current passport, replace a lost, stolen, or damaged passport, or renew their passport within one year of its expiration.
“This decision is a critical victory against discrimination and for equal justice under the law,” said Senior Staff Attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, Li Nowlin-Sohl. “But it’s also a historic win in the fight against this administration’s efforts to drive transgender people out of public life. The State Department’s policy is a baseless barrier for transgender, nonbinary, and intersex Americans and denies them the dignity we all deserve.”
“While this is good news,” the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement, “we will continue fighting until this executive order is blocked permanently.”
