The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday approved a request from President Donald Trump’s administration to enforce a policy preventing transgender and nonbinary people from selecting passport sex markers that match their gender identity.
The emergency application seeks to overturn a Biden-era rule that allowed applicants to choose “X” as a gender marker or to self-select male or female without medical documentation.
In an unsigned order, the Court stated:
“Listing a passport holder’s sex at birth is no more a violation of equal protection principles than listing their country of birth. In both cases, the government is simply recording a historical fact, not engaging in discriminatory treatment.”
The Court’s three liberal justices dissented.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote that the administration failed to show any harm in temporarily blocking the policy, while transgender applicants would face “imminent, concrete injury” if the restriction took effect.
Since 1992, the State Department has allowed some applicants to choose male or female markers that differ from their sex assigned at birth. The Biden administration expanded this in 2021 by introducing the “X” marker and eliminating the requirement for medical evidence of gender transition.
Attorney General Pam Bondi praised the ruling on X, saying it affirms the administration’s position that “there are two sexes,” and that government lawyers will continue defending that viewpoint.
Under the renewed Trump policy, transgender people—including those who have fully transitioned and have medical documentation—cannot obtain passports reflecting their affirmed gender.
“This is a devastating setback for people’s ability to live as who they are,” said Jon Davidson of the ACLU, which represents several transgender plaintiffs. “It fuels the broader attacks on transgender Americans and their constitutional rights.”
Trump announced the rollback of the Biden policy on his first day back in office, mandating that all passports list sex assigned at birth.
The policy is being challenged by multiple plaintiffs who argue it violates the Fifth Amendment’s equal protection guarantee as well as the Administrative Procedure Act.
The lead plaintiff, Ashton Orr, a transgender man from West Virginia, requested a passport with a male marker in January but was told in February that only a female marker could be issued.
A federal judge in Massachusetts previously ruled against the administration, saying applicants should be allowed to choose their own gender marker or opt for “X.” The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to pause that ruling while the case proceeded—prompting the administration to seek intervention from the Supreme Court.
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