Supreme Court Backs Trump Administration’s Passport Policy Restricting Gender Identity Designations

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Trump administration to enforce a policy requiring that all U.S. passports list only a person’s sex assigned at birth, reversing decades of practice permitting gender identity designations. The court lifted a lower judge’s order blocking the rule while a class action lawsuit proceeds, calling the policy a “factual record” rather than a form of discrimination. The unsigned order drew dissents from the court’s three liberal justices, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson warning that the decision enables “harm to be inflicted on the most vulnerable party.”

The policy marks a significant rollback of transgender rights, undoing the 2021 reforms introduced under President Joe Biden that allowed applicants to self-select gender markers, including a nonbinary “X” option. U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick had earlier ruled that the Trump-era restriction likely violated the Fifth Amendment’s equal protection clause, citing “irrational prejudice” against transgender Americans. However, the Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority has repeatedly sided with the administration in similar cases since Trump’s return to office.

Advocates for transgender Americans say the policy exposes individuals to harassment, misidentification, and discrimination while traveling. The Justice Department, defending the rule, argued that citizens cannot compel the government to use what it deems “inaccurate” sex designations on official documents. The decision is part of a broader series of measures by the Trump administration to limit recognition of transgender rights across the military, healthcare, and education sectors.

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