Washington, D.C.: The Trump administration has urged the Supreme Court to step in and stop a lower court order that would let transgender and nonbinary people pick the gender designation on their passports. The move goes against a federal judge’s decision that lets applicants choose a male, female, or “X” designation instead of being limited to the gender on their birth certificate.
The Justice Department says that the government shouldn’t have to use sex designations on official papers that it thinks are wrong. This lawsuit is the result of a challenge to an executive order from President Donald Trump that says people must choose “male” or “female” based on the gender on their birth certificate. The presidential order, which was signed on January 20, 2025, says that “sex” is “an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female.” It also makes it clear that “gender identity” is not part of this definition.
The people who are suing say that the policy has caused passports to be issued with wrong gender markers, and some others have had their applications sent back with different designations. They suggest that some people are now afraid to even apply.
One well-known example is transgender actress Hunter Schafer, who said in February that her new passport had a male gender marking, even though her license and passport had female markers on them when she was a teenager.
The Supreme Court’s ruling on the motion will decide if the lower court’s order stays in place while the larger case goes on. This is the most recent event in a legal and political fight over whether or not government ID cards should show a person’s gender identity.