Federal Judge Rules Trump's Transgender Passport Policy Unlawful and Unconstitutional

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In a major win Friday, a Federal Judge sided with six complainants and issued a preliminary injunction barring the Trump Administration's policy that kept transgender people from updating the sex designations on their passports. The ruling will remain in effect until the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit or the United States Supreme Court orders otherwise.

Presently, the injunction only covers the six complaints but in a statement the ACLU said that the plaintiffs plan to quickly file a motion asking the court to certify a class of people affected by the State Department policy and to extend the preliminary injunction to that entire class.

Judge Julia E. Kobick issued a preliminary injunction Friday after finding that an executive order by President Trump and a State Department policy prohibiting updates to sex designations on passports is likely unconstitutional and in violation of the law. The preliminary injunction requires the State Department to allow six transgender and nonbinary people to obtain passports with sex designations consistent with their gender identity while the lawsuit proceeds.

“This decision is a critical victory against discrimination and for equal justice under the law,” said Li Nowlin-Sohl, Senior Staff Attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project. “But it’s also a historic win in the fight against this administration’s efforts to drive transgender people out of public life. The State Department’s policy is a baseless barrier for transgender and intersex Americans and denies them the dignity we all deserve. We will do everything we can to ensure this order is extended to everyone affected by the administration’s misguided and unconstitutional policy so that we all have the freedom to be ourselves.”

“This ruling affirms the inherent dignity of our clients, acknowledging the immediate and profound negative impact that the Trump administration's passport policy would have on their ability to travel for work, school, and family,” said Jessie Rossman, Legal Director at ACLU of Massachusetts. “By forcing people to carry documents that directly contradict their identities, the Trump administration is attacking the very foundations of our right to privacy and the freedom to be ourselves. We will continue to fight to rescind this unlawful policy for everyone so that no one is placed in this untenable and unsafe position.”

Federal Judge Rules Trump's Transgender Passport Policy Unlawful and Unconstitutional