SCOTUS Allows Trump Policy Requiring Passports To Match Biological Sex
The Supreme Court delivered a significant win for the rule of law and biological reality on Thursday, allowing the Trump administration to require that the sex marker on U.S. passports reflect a traveler’s biological sex, rather than self-identified gender. The decision represents a setback for transgender and nonbinary activists who had sought to redefine long-standing federal documentation standards.
The unsigned order marks another successful outcome for President Donald J. Trump on the Court’s emergency docket, as the justices continue to consider a series of cases touching on gender identity and federal authority, CNN noted.
The Court’s rationale was straightforward: “Displaying passport holders’ sex at birth no more offends equal protection principles than displaying their country of birth – in both cases, the government is merely attesting to a historical fact without subjecting anyone to differential treatment,” the order stated.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined by the Court’s other two liberal justices, dissented sharply, writing: “Such senseless sidestepping of the obvious equitable outcome has become an unfortunate pattern. This court has once again paved the way for the immediate infliction of injury without adequate justification.”
The American Civil Liberties Union, which spearheaded the legal challenge, denounced the ruling. The organization argued the decision infringes on personal identity and risks exposing transgender Americans to hostility. “Forcing transgender people to carry passports that out them against their will increases the risk that they will face harassment and violence,” said Jon Davidson, senior counsel for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project.
U.S. passports have included sex markers since 1976. While the State Department began allowing sex-marker changes with medical documentation in 1992, the Biden administration took an unprecedented step in 2021 by introducing an “X” category for nonbinary or intersex individuals. President Trump reversed those policies earlier this year, restoring biological sex to federal documentation and eliminating the “X” option.
After a federal judge in Massachusetts attempted to halt the policy nationwide, the administration appealed. When the First Circuit refused to lift the injunction, the case was brought before the Supreme Court on an emergency basis.
The Justice Department defended the policy as neutral and evenly applied. In its filing, the DOJ stated that defining sex biologically “applies equally to each sex” and therefore does not constitute discrimination.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi emphasized the larger cultural significance of the ruling. “Attorneys at @TheJusticeDept just secured our 24th victory at the Supreme Court’s emergency docket,” Bondi wrote on X. “Today’s stay allows the government to require citizens to list their biological sex on their passport. In other words: there are two sexes, and our attorneys will continue fighting for that simple truth.”
The White House echoed that sentiment. Spokesperson Anna Kelly called the ruling “a victory for common sense and President Trump, who was resoundingly elected to eliminate woke gender ideology from our federal government.”
This marks the second major Supreme Court decision this year allowing a Trump administration policy affecting transgender individuals to proceed. In May, the Court allowed enforcement of a renewed ban on transgender service members in the U.S. military. Both decisions remain temporary while litigation continues in the lower courts.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has also advanced priorities central to American economic security and resource independence. Last month, the Court declined to intervene in a case blocking the development of the Resolution Copper mine in Arizona — clearing the way for the project to move forward. The mine, first approved in 2014 under the Obama administration and later supported by President Trump during his first term, was halted during the Biden administration before being revived under Trump’s second-term agenda.
Apache Stronghold, a group opposing the mine, claimed the project would infringe upon religious practices in Oak Flat, a site sacred to the San Carlos Apache tribe. The Court’s decision signals continued judicial support for restoring American industrial capacity and resource self-reliance.