In a significant legal development, U.S. District Judge Julia E. Kobick has issued a partial preliminary injunction halting the enforcement of a Trump-era executive order that blocks transgender people from updating the gender markers on their passports.
The ruling applies to six out of seven transgender and nonbinary plaintiffs involved in a lawsuit led by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ordering the State Department to issue them passports that correctly reflect their gender identities. This includes issuing passports with an “X” gender marker for those who do not identify strictly as male or female.
Judge 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.” She concluded that the government failed to prove that its policy served a sufficiently important objective.
The decision follows growing backlash to the Trump administration’s attempts to restrict gender marker updates, which activists argue infringe on personal rights and endanger lives.
Jessie Rossman, legal director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, hailed the ruling as a step toward justice: “This ruling affirms the inherent dignity of our clients, acknowledging the immediate and profound negative impact that the Trump administration’s passport policy would have on their ability to travel for work, school, and family.”
Rossman added that forcing individuals to carry documents that contradict their identities is an assault on privacy and identity, further noting the ACLU’s intention to continue pursuing nationwide relief.
Li Nowlin-Sohl, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project, echoed the sentiment, calling the decision “a critical victory against discrimination and for equal justice under the law.” She emphasised the ruling as a landmark moment in the ongoing fight against policies designed to erase transgender people from public life.
The ACLU filed Orr v. Trump in February, after former President Donald Trump signed an executive order asserting that there are only two immutable sexes. The order was followed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio suspending all passport applications using an “X” marker or reflecting gender identity rather than assigned sex at birth.
One of the plaintiffs, Reid Solomon-Lane, a trans man and father of three, shared his concerns: “I thought that 18 years after transitioning, I would be able to live my life in safety and ease. Now… Trump’s executive order and the ensuing passport policy have threatened that life of safety and ease.”
Solomon-Lane explained that a mismatched passport would force him to be outed every time he travelled, putting him and his family at risk.
The lawsuit argues that the passport policy violates the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection and Due Process clauses, and that it infringes on First Amendment rights by compelling trans, nonbinary, and intersex individuals to misrepresent their identities.
In response, the Trump administration claimed the policy does not cause harm, asserting that inconsistencies between federal and state documents are the result of personal choice, not government action.
Despite this, the court found that the administration’s policy appears to be “based on irrational prejudice toward transgender Americans” and that it was enacted in violation of procedural laws such as the Paperwork Reduction Act and Administrative Procedure Act.
The ACLU is expected to request an expansion of the ruling to apply to all trans and nonbinary people in the United States.
