The Trump administration’s plan to restrict passport sex markers for many transgender and nonbinary Americans has been blocked by a federal judge.
According to a decision made by U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick on Tuesday, transgender or nonbinary individuals who are either without a passport or need to apply for one can request a male, female, or “X” identification marker instead of being restricted to the marker that corresponds to their biological gender.
The president adopted a limited definition of the sexes rather than a more expansive understanding of gender in an executive order that was signed in January. The order rejected the notion that a person could change from the sex assigned at birth to a different gender, stating that a person is either male or female.
Only six individuals who joined the American Civil Liberties Union in a lawsuit over the passport policy were covered by Kobick’s initial preliminary injunction against the policy last month.
She consented to broaden the injunction in Tuesday’s ruling to cover transgender or nonbinary individuals who do not currently have a valid passport, those whose passports are about to expire, and those who must apply for a new passport because their current one was stolen or lost, or because they need to change their name or sex designation.
According to Kobick, the government did not demonstrate that halting its policy would violate its constitutional rights or negatively impact the executive branch’s international relations.
According to Kobick, the transgender and nonbinary individuals protected by the preliminary injunction have demonstrated that the passport policy infringes upon their constitutionally guaranteed right to equal protection.
“Even assuming a preliminary injunction inflicts some constitutional harm on the Executive Branch, such harm is the consequence of the State Department’s adoption of a Passport Policy that likely violates the constitutional rights of thousands of Americans,” Kobick stated..
Former President Joe Biden appointed Kobick, who supported the ACLU’s request for a preliminary injunction, which halts the action while the lawsuit is pending.
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In the preliminary injunction earlier this year, Kobick stated, “The Executive Order and the Passport Policy on their face classify passport applicants on the basis of sex and thus must be reviewed under intermediate judicial scrutiny.” The government must prove that its actions are significantly tied to a significant governmental interest in order to meet that standard. This requirement has not been met by the government.
According to the ACLU’s lawsuit, one woman had her passport returned with a male designation, and other women are afraid to apply for passports for fear that the State Department will suspend their applications and hold their passports.
Another asked to have their name and sex designation changed from male to female and mailed in their passport on January 9. According to the lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the individual was still awaiting their passport and was afraid of missing a botany conference and a family wedding this year.
The Trump administration claimed in its response to the lawsuit that the change to the passport policy “does not violate the equal protection guarantees of the Constitution.”
Additionally, it argued that plaintiffs would not suffer because they are still free to travel overseas and that the president has wide discretion in establishing passport policies.
