The federal appeals court noted that the government did not meet its burden to secure a stay.
A federal appeals court on Sept. 4 upheld a lower court ruling that blocked enforcement of President Donald Trump’s executive order banning the use of gender-neutral markers on passports.
U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick issued an injunction in April blocking the Department of State from enforcing the passport policy against six plaintiffs who filed the case, later expanding it in June to grant class certification, covering other Americans identifying as nonbinary or transgender.
In the Sept. 4 ruling, the court’s three-panel judge stated that the government failed to meaningfully address the district court’s finding that the changes to passport policy were rooted in “unconstitutional animus toward transgender Americans.”
The judges noted that the federal government did not meet its burden to secure a stay, despite its argument that blocking the policy could harm “certain long-term institutional interests of the executive branch.”
“In contrast, based on the named plaintiffs’ affidavits and the expert declarations submitted by the plaintiffs, the district court made factual findings that the plaintiffs will suffer a variety of immediate and irreparable harms from the present enforcement of the challenged policy, including ‘a greater risk of experiencing harassment and violence’ while traveling abroad,” the judges stated.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Massachusetts, which represented the plaintiffs, said the ruling ensures that “transgender, non-binary, and intersex people will continue to be able to obtain accurate passports.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.
The United States had permitted individuals who identify as transgender and intersex to choose a different sex for their passport than their birth sex since 1992, pending submission of medical documentation, until the rules were changed in 2021 under President Joe Biden.
The Biden administration allowed people to self-select their passport sex marker based on gender identity. Individuals who identified as non-binary or intersex were allowed to select an “X” marker rather than “M” or “F.”
