The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed the Donald Trump administration to enforce a policy that bars transgender and non-binary people from choosing passport sex markers that align with their gender identity, according to ABC News.
In an unsigned order issued Thursday, the court paused a lower-court ruling that had allowed individuals to select male (“M”), female (“F”) or “X” markers on new or renewed U.S. passports.
The majority opinion stated the change was not discriminatory, arguing: “Displaying passport holders’ sex at birth no more offends equal protection principles than displaying their country of birth.”
However, the court’s three liberal justices dissented strongly. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote that the decision “paved the way for the immediate infliction of injury without adequate (or, really, any) justification”, warning that the policy could expose transgender people to “increased violence, harassment and discrimination.”
The policy traces back to an executive order signed by Trump in January 2025 that mandated a binary sex designation on federal identity documents and ended the option for self-identified gender markers. Advocates argue enforcement of the policy forces individuals to present passports that “out” them, potentially putting them at greater risk abroad.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly hailed the court’s ruling as “a victory for common sense and President Trump, who was resoundingly elected to eliminate woke gender ideology from our federal government.”
Civil rights organisations have condemned the decision as a significant setback. One plaintiff quoted in legal filings said the change meant “I’m afraid to travel because my documents would reveal I’m trans.”
The ruling will remain in effect while litigation proceeds in lower courts, underscoring the broader legal and cultural struggle over gender identity and federal identification rules in the United States.
