The US Supreme Court has ruled to allow the Trump administration to immediately enforce a policy restricting passport gender markers to only “male” or “female.”
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The 6-3 decision, issued by the Court’s conservative majority, reverses a lower-court order that had required the State Department to offer an “X” option for nonbinary applicants. The ruling permits the two-gender policy to remain in effect while the underlying lawsuit challenging it continues.
Key Arguments
- Majority View: The Court stated the policy does not violate equal protection, arguing the government is “merely attesting to a historical fact” (sex at birth) without imposing differential treatment. They also cited the need to protect the government’s ability to manage passports under the President’s foreign affairs authority.
- Dissent (Justice Jackson): Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined by the other liberal justices, warned the decision puts transgender and nonbinary Americans at risk of harm, including being strip-searched or assaulted at airports. She argued the policy stems from an executive order that describes transgender identity as “false” and “corrosive.”
Policy Context
- The enforced policy originates from a Trump executive order that recognizes only two sexes, “male and female,” based strictly on birth certificates and “biological classification.”
- This decision effectively halts the previous Biden administration policy that had introduced the “X” marker and removed documentation requirements for changing gender on passports.
Attorney General Pam Bondi welcomed the ruling, affirming her intention to continue defending the administration’s position.
