Appeals Court Rejects Trump Bid to Restore Passport Policy Targeting Trans People

A federal appeals court on Thursday declined to allow U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to refuse to issue passports to transgender and nonbinary Americans that reflect their gender identities.

A three-judge panel of the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to put on hold an injunction issued by a trial judge barring the U.S. Department of State from enforcing a policy it adopted at Trump's direction.

The case is one of several concerning an executive order Trump signed after returning to office on January 20 directing the government to recognize only two biologically distinct sexes, male and female.

The Republican president's order also directed the State Department to change its policies to only issue passports that "accurately reflect the holder's sex."

The State Department subsequently changed its passport policy to "request the applicant's biological sex at birth," rather than permit applicants to self-identify their sex, and to only allow them to be listed as male or female.

Prior to Trump, the State Department for more than three decades allowed people to update the sex designation on their passports.

In 2022, Democratic President Joe Biden's administration allowed passport applicants to choose "X" as a neutral sex marker on their passport applications, as well as being able to self-select "M" or "F" for male or female.

Transgender, nonbinary and intersex people represented by the American Civil Liberties Union sued, arguing the policy unlawfully prevented them from obtaining passports consistent with their gender identities or with an "X" sex designation.

U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick agreed, saying the State Department's policy was arbitrary and was rooted in an irrational prejudice toward transgender Americans that violated their equal protection rights under the U.S. Constitution's Fifth Amendment.

Kobick, a Biden appointee, initially issued a narrow injunction covering six transgender and nonbinary individuals but in June expanded it nationwide after granting the plaintiffs class action status.

The 1st Circuit panel said the Trump administration had failed to make a strong showing that an agency action implementing a presidential directive was unreviewable under the Administrative Procedure Act.

The panel, comprised of three Biden appointed judges, said the U.S. Department of Justice also failed to meaningfully engage with Kobick's conclusion that the policy reflected "unconstitutional animus toward transgender Americans."

The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The ACLU had no immediate comment.