Supreme Court Allows Birth-Sex Passport Policy to Take Effect

The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the administration to enforce a policy that prevents transgender and nonbinary people from choosing passport sex markers that match their gender identity, permitting the rule to take effect while a legal challenge proceeds. The unsigned order from the court's majority reverses a lower-court injunction that had required the State Department to continue offering male, female or an X marker on new and renewed passports in line with applicants' gender identity.

The policy change follows a January executive order directing federal agencies to recognize two sexes, male and female, based on birth certificates and biological classification. The State Department revised its passport guidance to limit gender markers to the sex listed on a birth certificate and to male or female only. A group of transgender and nonbinary Americans sued, arguing the policy forces them to carry identification that does not reflect their lived identities and exposes them to harassment, discrimination or violence, particularly when traveling.

In filings to the Supreme Court, Solicitor General D. John Sauer urged immediate relief from the lower-court injunction, arguing...