Supreme Court rules Trump may remove transgender markers from new passports
WASHINGTON— The Supreme Court cleared the way for President Trump to remove transgender designations from new passports and require applicants to identify whether they were male or female at birth.
The judges voted 6-3. another emergency application accepted The decision from Trump’s lawyers suspended a Boston judge’s order blocking the president’s new passport policy from taking effect.
In its unsigned decision, the court said, “Indicating the gender of passport holders at birth is no more contrary to the principles of equal protection than indicating the country of birth.” “In both cases the Government is simply confirming a historical fact without subjecting anyone to different treatment.”
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson filed a dissent, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
He said there was no emergency and that the change in passport policy would pose a danger to transgender passengers.
“Current records show that transgender people who use gender-incompatible passports are subject to increased violence, harassment, and discrimination,” he wrote. “Airport checkpoints are stressful and invasive for travelers under typical circumstances, even without the added friction of being forced to present government-issued identification documents that do not reflect one’s identity.
“Thus, by preventing transgender Americans from obtaining gender-appropriate passports, the Government is doing more than making a statement about its belief that transgender identity is ‘wrong.’ The Passport Policy also invites the additional scrutiny, and at times derogatory, that these claimants face.”
After taking office in January, Trump ordered the military to remove transgender troops from its ranks and told agencies to remove references to “gender identity” or transgender people from government documents, including passports.
The Supreme Court implemented both policies, striking down judges’ orders that temporarily blocked the changes on the grounds that they were discriminatory and unconstitutional.
U.S. passports did not have gender markers until the 1970s. Most of the time since then, passport holders have had two options: “M” for male and “F” for female. Beginning in 1992, the State Department allowed applicants to designate a gender marker different from their sex at birth.
In 2021, the Biden administration added an “X” as an option for transgender and gender non-binary people.
Trump sought a return to the previous era. He issued an executive order about “gender ideology extremism” and said his administration would “recognize two genders, male and female.” He requested that “government-issued identification documents, including passports,” be “accurately reflective of the bearer’s gender” assigned at birth.
The ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of transgender individuals who would be affected by the new policy. In June, they won a ruling from U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick that blocked the new policy from taking effect.
Transgender plaintiffs are “seeking what millions of Americans take for granted: passports that allow them to travel without fear of misrecognition, harassment or violence,” ACLU attorneys said. He said the following in his appeal to the Supreme Court: last month.
They said the administration’s new policy would reduce the usefulness of passports for identification.
“By classifying people by the sex they were assigned at birth and placing gender markers in passports based solely on that sex classification, the State Department deprives plaintiffs of a usable form of identification and the ability to travel safely… {This} undermines the purpose of passports as identity documents that authorities control based on the holder’s appearance,” they wrote.
However, Lawyer Gen. D. John Sauer argued that the plaintiffs had no authority over the official documents. He said the justices should set aside the judge’s decision and allow the new policy to take effect.
“Private citizens may not compel the government to use incorrect gender designations on identification documents that do not reflect the person’s biological sex, especially on identification documents that are government property and exercise the President’s constitutional and statutory authority to communicate with foreign governments.”
