Sat Apr 19 01:46:12 UTC 2025: ## Judge Partially Blocks Trump’s Transgender Passport Ban
**Boston, MA –** A federal judge in Boston has partially blocked a Trump administration policy that refused to issue passports reflecting the gender identities of transgender and nonbinary Americans. U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick ruled the policy, implemented via executive order, likely violates the Fifth Amendment’s equal protection clause, deeming it discriminatory and based on “irrational prejudice.”
While Judge Kobick granted a preliminary injunction allowing six plaintiffs to receive passports aligning with their gender identities, she declined to issue a nationwide injunction. The plaintiffs’ lawyer, Li Nowlin-Sohl of the American Civil Liberties Union, vowed to continue fighting for a nationwide extension of the ruling.
The policy, implemented after President Trump’s return to office, reversed over 30 years of practice by the State Department. It mandated that passports only reflect the applicant’s sex assigned at birth, rejecting self-identification and limiting options to male or female. This decision contradicts the Biden administration’s 2022 policy that allowed for a neutral “X” gender marker.
The State Department and White House have yet to comment on the ruling. This case is one of several challenging the Trump administration’s broader stance on gender recognition, which limits recognition to only two biological sexes.
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