Trump Administration Sued Over Restrictive Passport Gender Policy

A new federal lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of an executive order requiring passports to reflect sex assigned at birth, alleging violations of privacy, equal protection, and free speech rights.

• Seven individuals, represented by the ACLU and other legal groups, have filed a federal lawsuit against the State Department over its passport gender marker policy.
• The policy stems from a Trump executive order mandating that government-issued IDs, including passports, reflect a person's sex as defined at birth, effectively banning updates to gender markers for transgender, intersex, and nonbinary individuals.
• The lawsuit argues the policy violates multiple constitutional protections, including the Equal Protection Clause, the Due Process Clause, and the First Amendment, by discriminating based on sex and forcing individuals to carry documents that misrepresent their identity.
• Previously issued passports with updated gender markers remain valid until expiration, but new and renewal applications must now align with the sex assigned at birth, according to the State Department.
• Advocacy groups report widespread confusion and concern among transgender and nonbinary individuals, with over 1,500 inquiries received about the impact of the policy on personal safety, privacy, and freedom of movement.

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