Lawsuit Challenges Donald Trump's Passport Policy on Gender Identity Issue
Donald Trump's executive order that mandates U.S. government documents, including passports, recognize only a person's sex assigned at birth, was filed on Friday by seven plaintiffs who identify as transgender or nonbinary.Newsweek has reached out to the State Department and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) via email as well as the U.S.
Department of Justice via online email form for comment.Since beginning his second term, Trump has taken steps to unravel protections for transgender people as transgender rights have been under scrutiny since his 2024 campaign.On Inauguration Day, Trump signed an executive order titled "Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government." The order mandated that his administration would use "clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male." The federal government will also use the word "sex" instead of "gender" with all official documents, including passports, visas and Global Entry cards, "accurately reflecting the holder's sex.""Agencies are no longer going to promote gender ideology through communication forms and other messages," a Trump administration official told reporters at the time, adding that "federal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology."This order has already caused the State Department to stop issuing passports with an "X" gender marker, compelling transgender individuals to apply for travel documents that do not align with their gender identity.Seven individuals filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration on Friday in the U.S.
District Court for Massachusetts, accusing the State Department of denying passport applications from transgender citizens or issuing documents that fail to reflect their gender identity.According to the court documents, filed with support from the ACLU, the administration's policy is "unlawful and unconstitutional," adding that it.
