Judge blocks Trump admin's transgender passport policy
Share this @internewscast.com

President Donald Trump, right, talks with reporters as Secretary of State Marco Rubio listens upon arriving at Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, N.J., on the way to Camp David, Md., Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

The Trump administration has been prohibited from implementing its proposed changes to sex marker designations on United States passports for many transgender individuals.

U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick of Massachusetts prevented the State Department from enforcing two modifications to its passport policy regarding sex markers. Transgender passport applicants were previously allowed to self-select male (M) or female (F) based on their gender identity or opt for a third option labeled “X.” However, under the new Trump administration, the State Department has mandated that passports reflect the person’s assigned sex at birth, and the “X” option was eliminated.

Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.

The State Department and its secretary, Marco Rubio, acted in response to an executive order from President Donald Trump, in which he wrote, “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female,” and demanded the executive branch “enforce all sex-protective laws to promote this reality.”

In April, Kobick granted a preliminary injunction barring the State Department from implementing the passport policy for six people who joined the American Civil Liberties Union in a lawsuit challenging the executive order. On Tuesday, the injunction was expanded to include people who do not have a valid passport, whose passport expires within one year, who need to make changes to their passport so that the “sex designation align[s] with their gender identity or to reflect a name change,” and whose passports were lost, damaged, or stolen.

The Trump administration had argued that the influx of new passport applications would hamper the State Department’s functioning.

Kobick, a Joe Biden appointee, found this argument to be too thin. She wrote the government “has not offered evidence of the number of additional applications from such individuals it anticipates receiving.” The judge noted the administration has not “identified any specific ways in which the burden associated with processing additional passport applications is likely to impede the State Department’s functioning.”

“That burden, consequently, is too ill-defined and speculative to shift the balance of the equities,” Kobick said.

The administration also argued that its inability to make the passport changes would negatively affect its standing with foreign countries.

But Kobick once more found there to be insufficient evidence to prove this claim. “[The government] has not identified any specific ways in which an injunction requiring the State Department to issue passports bearing sex designations with which it disagrees is likely to injure the Executive Branch’s relations with foreign sovereigns,” she wrote.

Finally, the administration maintained that it would suffer “constitutional harm” by having to print the sex markers.

Kobick, again, rejected this argument.

“Even assuming a preliminary injunction inflicts some constitutional harm on the Executive Branch, such harm is the consequence of the State Department’s adoption of a Passport Policy that likely violates the constitutional rights of thousands of Americans,” she wrote.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly derided the ruling as “yet another attempt by a rogue judge to thwart President Trump’s agenda and push radical gender ideology that defies biological truth,” in comments to CBS News.

“There are only two genders, there is no such thing as gender ‘X’, and the President was given a mandate by the American people to restore common sense to the federal government,” she added.

Share this @internewscast.com
You May Also Like

A Man on Drug Offender Probation Faces Charges for Keeping a Safe Filled with Drugs

Staff report GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Barry Anton Scott, 71, who was detained…

Perth Inmates Allegedly Feast on Guinea Pigs Taken from Animal Shelter

Prisoners have allegedly been killing and eating guinea pigs taken during their…

Tragic Discovery: Alabama Toddler Found Dead in Hearse, Mistaken for a ‘Doll’ by Employees

An Alabama woman has been arrested after a toddler girl was discovered…

Jodi Arias’ Unsuccessful Effort to Accuse Nancy Grace of Causing an Unjust Trial Sparks New Appeal for Release

Jodi Arias stabs her boyfriend, Travis Alexander, 28 times, shoots him and…

Mother Murders ‘Difficult’ Daughter, Warns Son to Stay Silent, Police Report

Vanessa Chavez (Metropolitan Detention Center). Law enforcement in New Mexico detained a…

Indiana Parents Charged with Murder of 6-Year-Old Boy: Authorities

An Indiana couple is facing murder charges in connection with the death…

Police Report: Man in Diapers with Pacifier Requests Women to ‘Change’ Him

Inset: Wesley Worl (Smith County Jail). Background: Andy Woods Elementary School in…

Man Allegedly Runs Over Pregnant Ex with Truck, Fatally Shoots Her: Police Report

Left inset: Arel Dawkins (Greene County Jail). Right inset: Braisen Cain (GoFundMe).…

Traveler’s Killer Sentenced in Court Verdict

Insets: Joyce Grayson (Tillinghast Funeral Home) and Michael Reese (Connecticut Department of…

Court Mandates Trump Administration to Release Spending Information

President Donald Trump listens during a briefing with the media, Friday, June…

Cement Mixer Truck Stolen and Utilized in Melbourne Heist

Business owners in Melbourne’s south-east have been left devastated after thieves used…

Man Convicted of Killing Pregnant Former Partner and Teen

Background: Nicole Cunigan Jr. after his conviction for murder (WHIO). Insets from…