The Trump administration is urging the Supreme Court to temporarily halt the enforcement of a federal judge’s ruling that mandates the State Department to allow transgender and nonbinary individuals to choose their sex marker on passports, aligning with their gender identity. This move comes after U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick’s decision in Massachusetts, which challenges a policy directive issued under the Trump administration. The policy, as described in an executive order earlier this year, stipulates that official U.S. identification documents should reflect an individual’s biological sex only.
The judge’s ruling had been based on claims that the policy breached constitutional rights to equal treatment and violated federal administrative law. Despite this, the Solicitor General, D. John Sauer, contends that the ruling forces the U.S. to engage in international discourse that contradicts the President’s foreign policy and what they term “scientific reality.” The administration cites the precedent set by the United States v. Skrmetti, which upheld state-level restrictions concerning transgender minors.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit has already refused to stay the federal judge’s order while the government appeals, prompting the administration to seek intervention from the Supreme Court. The administration holds that the redefined passport policy is “eminently lawful” and does not exhibit discrimination, as it applies biological definitions of gender across the board, without bias. They further argue that suspending the judge’s order would not result in irreparable harm to plaintiffs, as the scope of the ruling does not necessitate immediate international travel or a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria.
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