Washington, D.C. – In a landmark 6-3 ruling that hands the Trump administration a resounding win, the U.S. Supreme Court on November 6, 2025, cleared the way for the government to enforce a policy restricting passport gender markers to “male” or “female” based on biological sex at birth, effectively ending options for transgender and nonbinary individuals to self-select their identity. The decision, issued without a full written opinion, overturns a lower court injunction and allows the State Department to implement the change immediately while litigation continues.
The case, Trump v. Orr, challenged a January 2025 executive order directing passports to reflect sex as indicated on birth certificates, reversing Biden-era rules that permitted self-selection without medical documentation and introduced an “X” marker for nonbinary applicants. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, writing for the conservative majority, emphasized foreign policy interests, stating the policy aligns with “scientific reality” and avoids compelling the government to “speak in contravention of the President’s authority.” The order does not invalidate existing passports with “X” or self-selected markers, which remain valid until expiration.
The ruling, a swift victory on the court’s shadow docket, follows a Massachusetts federal judge’s June 2025 block on the policy, which plaintiffs argued violated equal protection under the Fifth Amendment. Solicitor General D. John Sauer hailed it as “a triumph for common sense,” while transgender actor Hunter Schafer decried the reversal, noting her renewed passport now lists her as male despite years of female identification.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s dissent, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, lambasted the decision as inflicting “immediate injury without justification,” exposing transgender travelers to harassment abroad. The ACLU, representing plaintiffs like Ashton Orr—a transgender man denied a male marker—vowed an appeal, estimating 20,000 affected annually.
This marks the latest rollback in Trump’s second term, following bans on gender-affirming care for minors and DEI programs. Amid 2.1 million deportations and a 36-day shutdown freezing SNAP for 42 million, the policy cements a binary vision of identity. For supporters, it’s clarity; for critics, erasure. As travelers renew documents, the passport’s page now echoes a nation’s divide—male or female, no exceptions.
