Judge expands order against Trump administration's passport gender policy

UPI

5 hours ago

A federal judge in Massachusetts on Tuesday expanded an order against the State Department's passport policy to include all applicants who are transgender or nonbinary. File Photo by Ismael Mohamad/UPI | License Photo
June 17 (UPI) -- A federal judge in Massachusetts on Tuesday expanded an order against the State Department's passport policy to include all applicants who are transgender or nonbinary, saying the "passport policy violates their constitutional right to equal protection of the laws."
Judge Julia Kobick granted a first preliminary injunction in April, which blocked the State Department's policy for only six of seven people who originally sued. On Tuesday, the judge expanded it to plaintiffs who were added to the suit, and nearly all trans and nonbinary Americans seeking new passports or changes.
Kobick, an appointee of former President Biden, wrote that the six named plaintiffs and the new class of plaintiffs "face the same injury: they cannot obtain a passport with a sex designation that aligns with their gender identity."
"The plaintiffs have demonstrated that they are likely to succeed on the merits of their claims that the Passport Policy violates their constitutional right to equal protection of the laws and runs afoul of the safeguards of the APA," Kobick wrote in Tuesday's opinion, while referring to the Administrative Procedure Act which governs how policies are adopted.
After taking office earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order, proclaiming the United States recognizes only two sexes -- male and female -- and that those sexes "are not changeable." Trump then ordered government-issued identification documents, including U.S. passports, to reflect a person's sex at birth.
"We will no longer issue U.S. passports or Consular Reports of Birth Abroad with an X marker," according the State Department. "We will only issue passports with an M or F sex marker that match the customer's biological sex at birth."
Under the Biden administration, passport holders could self-select gender designation, including "unspecified" which was designated by the letter X.
The Trump administration appealed Kobick's ruling in April. On Tuesday, Kobick wrote that forcing transgender and nonbinary people to choose between two sexes makes them more vulnerable to discrimination.
"Absent preliminary injunctive relief, these plaintiffs may effectively be forced to out themselves as transgender or non-binary every time they present their passport," Kobick wrote.
The legal director at the ACLU of Massachusetts celebrated Tuesday's ruling and vowed to "continue to fight."
"This decision acknowledges the immediate and profound negative impact that the Trump administration's passport policy has on the ability of people across the country to travel for work, school and family," Jessie Rossman, legal director at the ACLU of Massachusetts, said in a statement.
"The Trump administration's passport policy attacks the foundations of the right to privacy and the freedom for all people to live their lives safely and with dignity," Rossman added. "We will continue to fight to stop this unlawful policy once and for all."