US Supreme Court Allows Trump’s Anti-Trans Passport Policy to Continue

In a further setback for LGBTIQ+ rights in the United States, the country’s Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to continue enforcing its discriminatory passport policy against transgender, non-binary, and intersex people.

In January 2025, Trump signed an executive order defining gender in all government programmes and policies as strictly male or female, based solely on biological sex and excluding any recognition of gender identity.

Within days, the State Department stopped issuing passports reflecting the gender identity of transgender people, instead listing only their sex assigned at birth.

Legal Challenge and Setback

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) challenged the policy on behalf of several transgender individuals. A federal court initially issued a preliminary injunction halting the discriminatory policy while the case proceeded.

However, on Thursday, the Supreme Court granted the Trump administration’s request to suspend that injunction, allowing the government to continue enforcing the anti-trans passport policy until the case is ultimately decided.

Jon Davidson, Senior Counsel for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project, described the ruling as “a heartbreaking setback for the freedom of all people to be themselves, and fuel on the fire the Trump administration is stoking against transgender people and their constitutional rights.”

The ACLU argues that forcing transgender people to carry passports that do not reflect their gender identity increases the risk of harassment, discrimination, and violence.

Jessie Rossman, Legal Director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, added: “The Trump administration’s policy is an unlawful attempt to dehumanise, humiliate, and endanger transgender, non-binary, and intersex Americans.”

Dissent from Liberal Justices

While the majority of Supreme Court justices sided with the Trump administration, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued a dissenting opinion, supported by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

“This Court has once again paved the way for the immediate infliction of injury without adequate (or, really, any) justification,” wrote Justice Jackson, adding that the decision was “an abdication of the Court’s duty.”

ACLU Vows to Fight On

The ACLU has vowed to continue challenging the policy in the courts until it is overturned.

The Supreme Court’s decision adds to mounting concern that the court is increasingly biased in favour of Donald Trump and his administration’s regressive and discriminatory policies — raising fears that it could one day consider reversing marriage equality in the United States.