Last Updated Apr - 19 - 2025, 02:10 PM | Source : Fela News
A U.S. judge ruled that a Trump-era passport policy discriminates against transgender Americans, halting its enforcement for six plaintiffs while calling it lik
A federal judge ruled on Friday that a Trump-era policy denying transgender and nonbinary Americans passports reflecting their gender identities is likely unconstitutional. However, she declined to issue a nationwide injunction.
U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick in Boston granted a preliminary injunction for six of the seven plaintiffs challenging the State Department’s policy, which was implemented under former President Donald Trump. Kobick found that both the passport policy and the related executive order discriminated based on sex and reflected animosity toward transgender individuals, violating the Fifth Amendment’s equal protection guarantee.
“The Executive Order and Passport Policy are based on irrational prejudice toward transgender Americans,” Kobick wrote.
While the injunction allows the six plaintiffs to receive passports with gender markers matching their identities, Kobick said there was insufficient justification to block the policy nationwide.
Li Nowlin-Sohl of the ACLU, representing the plaintiffs, pledged to continue fighting for broader protections.
The case stems from Trump’s 2025 executive order mandating recognition of only two biological sexes and requiring passport applicants to list their sex assigned at birth.
Kobick, appointed by President Biden, noted the move reversed decades of State Department practice that supported gender marker updates.
Apr - 19 - 2025
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Apr - 19 - 2025
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