A Massachusetts Judge Appointed by Biden Mandates State Department to Issue Passports with Incorrect Sex Markers, Countering Trump’s Executive Order
On the inaugural day of his second term, President Trump put pen to paper on an executive order declaring that the federal government would recognize only two immutable sexes.
The order asserts, “sexes that are not changeable, and they are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”
In response, the State Department adjusted its policy to issue passports that “accurately reflect the holder’s sex,” as designated at birth. This shift reversed previous practices that allowed individuals to select their preferred gender, with the Biden administration even introducing an “X” option for non-binary individuals.
This alteration ignited a lawsuit from six plaintiffs identifying as transgender and/or non-binary.
In their legal challenge, the plaintiffs argued, “Having a sex designation on a passport that involuntarily reveals someone’s transgender status can lead to harassment and discrimination while traveling within the United States.”
WATCH: Transgender ‘Euphoria’ Star Complains Gender Marker on His Passport Has Been Changed to ‘Male’
U.S. District Judge Julia Sobick ruled on Friday that, given the plaintiffs’ strong likelihood of prevailing in their case, the State Department must issue them passports.
Sobick described the new policy of strictly adhering to biological sex as “arbitrary and capricious.”
“The plaintiffs have demonstrated a likelihood of success on their separate argument that, under any standard of review, the Executive Order and Passport Policy are rooted in irrational prejudice against transgender Americans, thus violating our nation’s constitutional commitment to equal protection for all,” Sobick stated in her ruling, as reported by USA Today.
Furthermore, the plaintiffs have indicated they are likely to succeed in arguing that the Passport Policy is arbitrary and capricious, lacking compliance with necessary procedures laid out by the Paperwork Reduction Act and Administrative Procedure Act,” the judge added.
Notably, Sobick’s ruling does not extend nationwide at this juncture.
According to the USA Today report, the litigants entitled to receive passports under the judge’s ruling—marking “X” for their sex—include Ashton Orr from Morgantown, West Virginia; Zaya Perysian from Santa Clarita, California; Sawyer Soe from Salem, Massachusetts; Chastain Anderson near Richmond, Virginia; Drew Hall from Wisconsin; and Bella Boe from Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is worth noting that Soe and Boe are pseudonyms.
