A major development has emerged following Donald Trump’s signing of a controversial executive order that results in the prohibition of certain passports in the United States.
In line with expectations, another update regarding Trump has come to light.
Since his inauguration on January 20, Trump has been actively implementing changes, having signed approximately 200 executive orders shortly after re-entering the White House.
His executive orders have targeted areas such as climate change and immigration, and some have also affected the LGBTQ+ community.
One such order, “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” focuses on recognizing only two genders, male and female, thereby not acknowledging transgender and non-binary identities in legal contexts.
This order has implications for the prison system, where transgender women will no longer be accommodated in female facilities, and it also impacts the passport process for non-binary individuals.
Here’s some background information.
Under the Joe Biden administration, non-binary individuals and those wishing to use ‘X’ as their gender on passports could do so starting in October 2021.
Nevertheless, the issuance and application process for these ‘X’ passports have been halted due to the executive order.
In a message obtained by The Guardian, Secretary of State Marco Rubio communicated to employees: “The policy of the United States is that an individual’s sex is not changeable.”
He emphasized that documents ranging from passports to consular birth reports should utilize sex rather than gender.
You might be curious about the latest update since this initially occurred in January.
Here’s the update:
A federal judge has blocked the ban.
According to the Independent, US District Judge Julia Kobick stated: “The Executive Order and the Passport Policy on their face classify passport applicants on the basis of sex and thus must be reviewed under intermediate judicial scrutiny.
“That standard requires the government to demonstrate that its actions are substantially related to an important governmental interest. The government has failed to meet this standard.”
Kobick further commented that the plaintiffs are likely to demonstrate that the new passport policy and executive order are grounded in irrational prejudice against transgender Americans, contradicting the constitutional commitment to equal protection for all citizens.
Previously, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration representing five transgender and two non-binary Americans, arguing that the policy would prevent them from acquiring accurate passports.
Sruti Swaminathan, an ACLU lawyer, stated: “We all have a right to accurate identity documents, and this policy invites harassment, discrimination, and violence against transgender Americans who can no longer obtain or renew a passport that matches who they are.”
However, the Trump administration responded, asserting that the new policy does not breach the equal protection guarantees of the Constitution and that the case’s plaintiffs suffered no harm from the gender specification changes, as they could still apply for passports and travel freely. They would just need to use biological sex markers instead of X and gender markers.