Appeals Court Rules Transgender people can obtain a passport

Photo by Pavel Danilyuk: Pexels

The First Circuit Court of Appeals on Sept. 4, 2025, ruled against Donald Trump keeping in place an injunction allowing transgender people the right to obtain passports that align with their gender identity.

In April, District Court Judge Julia Kobick granted a preliminary injunction requiring the State Department to allow six transgender and nonbinary plaintiffs in Orr v. Trump to obtain passports with sex designations consistent with their gender identity or with an “X” sex designation while the lawsuit proceeds.

Then, in June, Judge Kobick certified two classes of passport holders and expanded the preliminary injunction to include any class member applying to:

Obtain a new passport,

Change the sex designation or update their name on their current passport

Replace a lost, stolen, or damaged passport, or

Renew their passport within one year of its expiration.

This includes those who, under the Trump administration’s policy, were previously sent a passport with a sex designation listing their sex assigned at birth.

Read more at the ACLU Press Release.

State Department Files Motion To Revoke Transgender Passports

Three weeks after a federal court ruled trans people are constitutionally guaranteed the right to be issued passports, and one week after the State Department's help page was updated to indicate that transgender individuals can obtain a passport with their authentic gender, the acting assistant secretary for passport services filed a motion to revoke and replace passports issued under the current court ruling, "if a higher court allows it".

Erin Reed first reported that the State Department is keeping a list of those who have been issued a passport and intends to revoke those Passports even if the individual was out of the country. This action would be contingent on a ruling by a "higher court," which, of course, is the Trump appointees on the "Supreme" Court.

Scotus Trump appointees will face their most challenging case to date, as they will have to either uphold the constitutional rights of a class of US citizens as the did in BOSTOCK v. CLAYTON COUNTY or rule in favor of their benefactor, Donald Trump.