Judge Blocks Trump On Passports: Holders Can Choose ‘X’ Instead Of Male Or Female

A federal judge has ordered the State Department to revert to the policy in place before President Trump retook office, allowing U.S. citizens to self-select a gender designation that includes “X”—instead of either male or female—on their passport applications.

On Tuesday, a federal judge in Boston blocked the Trump administration from limiting passport sex markers to “male” and “female,” saying the State Department’s policy “likely violates the constitutional rights of thousands of Americans.”

Since President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January declaring the government would only recognize “two sexes, male and female,” the U.S. State Department stopped issuing U.S. passports and Consular Reports of Birth Abroad (CRBAs) with an X marker and has only issued passports with markers that “match the customer’s biological sex at birth.”

Trump’s executive order reversed a decision taken by the Biden administration in April 2022 to make an "X gender" marker available for U.S. passports.U.S. passports issued with the X marker between 2022 and 2025 remain valid until their expiration date, according to the State Department website.

The ruling broadens a previous injunction from Kobick that applied to six people, and now includes all transgender or non-binary people who don’t have a valid passport, those whose passport is expiring within one year, and those who need to reapply for a passport because theirs was lost or stolen or because they need to change their name or sex designation.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2025/06/18/judge-blocks-trump-on-passports-holders-can-choose-x-instead-of-male-or-female/?ss=lifestyle