U.S. District Judge Julia E. Kobick has issued a partial preliminary injunction against the Trump administration’s policy that barred transgender individuals from updating the gender markers on their passports.
Judge Kobick’s ruling mandates that six out of seven transgender and nonbinary plaintiffs in a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) must receive passports that accurately reflect their gender identities. This includes the option of an “X” gender marker for those who do not identify 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… The government has failed to meet this standard.”
She concluded that the plaintiffs were likely to prove the administration’s policy was based on “irrational prejudice toward transgender Americans,” was “arbitrary and capricious,” and violated the Paperwork Reduction Act and Administrative Procedure Act.
“This ruling affirms the inherent dignity of our clients,” said Jessie Rossman, legal director at ACLU of Massachusetts. “By forcing people to carry documents that contradict their identities, the Trump administration is attacking our right to privacy and freedom.” The ACLU plans to seek a nationwide extension of the injunction.
“This decision is a critical victory against discrimination,” stated Li Nowlin-Sohl, senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project. “We will do everything we can to ensure this order is extended to everyone affected by the administration’s misguided and unconstitutional policy.”
The ACLU filed the lawsuit, Orr v. Trump, after an executive order from the president declared only two immutable genders. Subsequently, the State Department suspended passport applications requesting an “X” gender marker or those listing a gender identity different from the assigned sex at birth.
Plaintiff Reid Solomon-Lane, a transgender man, stated, “If my passport were to reflect a sex designation that is inconsistent with who I am, I would be forcibly outed every time I used my passport,” endangering his safety and his family’s.
The lawsuit argues the policy violates the Constitution’s Equal Protection and Due Process clauses, as well as the First Amendment by compelling speech.
