Supreme Court Rules on Passport Gender Designation

On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration is permitted to issue passports that specify biological sex instead of “gender identity.”

The court stated, “Indicating a passport holder’s sex at birth does not violate the equal protection principle any more than indicating the country of birth. In both instances, the government is simply establishing a historical fact without subjecting anyone to discriminatory treatment.”

This decision comes in light of a prior ruling by Judge Julia E. Kovic in Massachusetts, who had previously ordered in June that the government allow individuals identifying as transgender to choose their gender designation on passports.

In September, the Trump administration sought intervention from the Supreme Court to block this injunction, arguing that passports are “official government documents addressed to foreign countries.”

The Supreme Court noted that the lower court’s decision to grant class-wide relief hindered the executive branch from enforcing policies related to foreign affairs and government documents, suggesting the government is likely to succeed in its stance.

Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan expressed dissent. Justice Jackson indicated that, “Absent an injunction, plaintiffs and the transgender American population they represent are faced with a difficult choice that no other American faces: on the one hand, use a gender-nonconforming passport and risk harassment and physical abuse, or on the other hand, avoid all activities that might require a passport (travel, open a bank account, rent a car, start a new job). The harm of having to make such a choice before the legal issues are resolved is clear.”

President Trump had announced during his first day in office that passports should “accurately reflect the gender of the holder.” Under the Biden administration, the State Department had previously announced it would allow applicants to select their gender, providing an “X” designation for those who do not identify strictly as male or female.

Attorney General Pam Bondi remarked on social media that the ruling marked the Justice Department’s “24th victory in the Supreme Court’s emergency litigation.” She reiterated, “Today’s stay allows the government to require citizens to list their biological sex on their passports. In other words, there are two genders, and our lawyers will continue to fight for that simple truth.”