Transgender Americans aim to block Trump's passport policy change
[March 25, 2025]
By MICHAEL CASEY and RODRIQUE NGOWI
BOSTON (AP) — When Ash Lazarus Orr went to renew his passport in early
January, the transgender organizer figured it would be relatively
routine.
But more than two months on, Orr is waiting to get a new passport with a
name change and a sex designation reflecting who he is. The delay has
prevented him from traveling overseas to receive gender-affirming care
this month in Ireland since he refuses to get a passport that lists an
“inaccurate sex designation.”
Orr blames the delay on President Donald Trump, who on the day he took
office issued an executive order banning the use of the “X” marker as
well as the changing of gender markers. The order says a person is male
or female and it rejects the idea that someone can transition from the
sex assigned at birth to another gender.
“This is preventing me from having an accurate identification and the
freedom to move about the country as well as internationally,” said Orr,
who is among seven plaintiffs — five transgender Americans and two
nonbinary plaintiffs — who have sued the Trump administration in federal
court over the policy. “This has really, truly impeded on my life and my
freedom as well ... The government is questioning who I am as a trans
person.”
The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the federal government on
their behalf and will be in court Tuesday in Boston seeking a
preliminary injunction, which would put the policy on hold while the
lawsuit proceeds in court.
In their lawsuit, the ACLU described how one woman had her passport
returned with a male designation while others are too scared to submit
their passports because they fear their applications might be suspended
and their passports held by the State Department. Another mailed in
their passport on Jan. 9 and requested a name change and to change their
sex designation from male to female. That person is still waiting for
their passport — meaning they can't leave Canada where they live and
could miss a family wedding in May and a botany conference in July.

“All have faced prior mistreatment due to their gender identities, and
they fear that having incorrect sex designations on their passports will
cause them further mistreatment — including putting them in danger,” the
ACLU wrote.
Before he applied for his new passport, Orr was accused in early January
by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration of using fake
documents when traveling from West Virginia to New York — since he had a
male designation on his driver's license but a female one on his
passport. That prompted him to request the updated passport with a sex
designation of male — four days before Trump took office.

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Ash Lazarus Orr, a transgender plaintiff in a lawsuit against the
Trump administration's policy that bans the use of the "X" marker
used by nonbinary people on passports, speaks during an interview
with The Associated Press, Monday, March 24, 2025, in Boston. (AP
Photo/Rodrique Ngowi)

“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,” ACLU lawyer Sruti Swaminathan said.
In response to the lawsuit, the Trump administration has argued the
passport policy change “does not violate the equal protection
guarantees of the Constitution.” They also contend that the
president has broad discretion in setting passport policy and that
plaintiffs would not be harmed by the policy, since they are still
free to travel abroad.
“Some Plaintiffs additionally allege that having inconsistent
identification documents will heighten the risk that an official
will discover that they are transgender,” the Justice Department
wrote. “But the Department is not responsible for Plaintiffs’ choice
to change their sex designation for state documents but not their
passport.”
After the Trump executive order, the State Department quickly
stopped issuing travel documents with the “X” gender marker
preferred by many nonbinary people, who don’t identify as strictly
male or female. The department also stopped allowing people to
change the gender listed on their passport or get new ones that
reflect their gender rather than their sex assigned at birth.
Applications that had already been submitted seeking gender-marker
changes were put on hold. The State Department also replaced its
webpage with information for “LGBTQI+” travelers to just “LGB,”
removing any reference to transgender or intersex people.
The passport policy is among several actions Trump has taken since
returning to office that could stifle rights and legal recognition
of transgender, intersex and nonbinary people.
The same order that seeks to define the sexes to exclude them would
also require housing transgender women in prison in men’s
facilities. Additional orders could open the door to kicking
transgender service members out of the military, barring the use of
federal taxpayer money to provide gender-affirming care to
transgender people under 19 and keeping transgender girls and women
out of girls and women’s sports competitions.
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