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The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Trump administration to enforce a policy preventing transgender and nonbinary Americans from selecting passport gender markers that reflect their gender identity. The unsigned order, backed by the court’s conservative majority, permits the policy to take effect while a legal challenge continues. It reverses a lower-court ruling that had required the State Department to keep offering passport applicants the option to choose male, female, or X in line with their gender identity. Why It Matters The decision marks another victory for President Donald Trump on the court’s emergency docket. FILE – President Donald Trump, left, greets justices of the Supreme Court, from left, Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, before addressing a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) What To Know The State Department’s rule change followed a January executive order from Trump declaring that the federal government would “recognize two sexes, male and female,” based on birth certificates and “biological classification.” The order effectively eliminated gender marker options that had been available under the Biden administration, which introduced the X designation in 2021 after years of litigation. In his emergency filing, Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that passport issuance falls under the president’s authority over foreign affairs and identification standards. Transgender and nonbinary plaintiffs say the policy forces them to carry identification documents that do not match their lived identities, exposing them to potential harassment, discrimination, or violence. Transgender actor Hunter Schafer said in February that her new passport listed her as male, even though she has long been identified as female on her driver’s license and previous passports. Under previous rules, Americans could change their passport gender marker with medical documentation beginning in the early 1990s. Those requirements were removed in 2021, when the Biden administration expanded access to nonbinary markers without requiring proof of medical transition. A federal judge blocked Trump’s policy in June, siding with transgender and nonbinary applicants who said they feared applying for passports that could out them or misrepresent their identities. An appellate court allowed the injunction to remain in place before Sauer appealed to the Supreme Court. What People Are Saying Sauer cited a recent Supreme Court decision that upheld a state ban on gender-affirming care for minors, suggesting it reflected judicial deference to legislative and executive definitions of sex: ““It is hard to imagine a system less conducive to accurate identification than one in which anyone can refuse to identify his or her sex and withhold relevant identifying information for any reason, or can rely on a mutable sense of self-identification.” Attorneys for the group wrote in court filings, “By classifying people based on sex assigned at birth, the State Department deprives plaintiffs of a usable identification document and the ability to travel safely.” What Happens Next The lawsuit challenging the policy is continuing in federal court. Updates: 11/6/26, 3:47 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information and remarks. This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.
