Breaking: Supreme Court Rules Passports Must Reflect Biological Sex, Upholding Trump-Era Policy

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In a 6-3 decision on Thursday, the Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration, allowing passports to list the traveler’s biological sex rather than gender identity.

In an unsigned order, the Court wrote that displaying a passport holder’s sex at birth “no more offends equal protection principles than displaying their country of birth — in both cases, the Government is merely attesting to a historical fact without subjecting anyone to differential treatment.”

The justices further noted that the challengers had not proven that the government’s policy was motivated by “any purpose other than a bare … desire to harm a politically unpopular group.”

The ruling overrides lower court injunctions that had previously blocked the administration from implementing the policy, marking a significant victory for the Trump-era approach to federal documentation.

Justice Jackson Dissents as Supreme Court Upholds Biological Sex on Passports

In a dissenting opinion, liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson criticized the Court’s decision, writing, “Such senseless sidestepping of the obvious equitable outcome has become an unfortunate pattern. So, too, has my own refusal to look the other way when basic principles are selectively discarded. This Court has once again paved the way for the immediate infliction of injury without adequate (or, really, any) justification.”

“Because I cannot acquiesce to this pointless but painful perversion of our equitable discretion, I respectfully dissent,” Jackson concluded.

CNN reported that U.S. passports first carried sex markers in 1976, but in 1992 the State Department allowed citizens to select a marker opposite their sex assigned at birth with appropriate medical documentation. In 2021, the Biden administration expanded the policy to include an “X” sex marker option.

After taking office, President Donald Trump reversed both policies, directing that passports reflect an individual’s biological sex.

Following Thursday’s ruling, Attorney General Pam Bondi praised the decision on social media:

“Attorneys at @TheJusticeDept just secured our 24th victory at the Supreme Court’s emergency docket. Today’s stay allows the government to require citizens to list their biological sex on their passport. In other words: there are two sexes, and our attorneys will continue fighting for that simple truth.”

CNN reported that in May, the Supreme Court permitted the Trump administration to begin immediately enforcing its ban on transgender service members in the military.

The network noted, “Neither decision is the final word on the legal cases at issue, only a short-term determination about what will happen while those cases continue to play out” in lower courts.