The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit on behalf of seven plaintiffs against the State Department for barring them from receiving passports that accurately reflect their gender identity.

The State Department stopped issuing accurate passports after President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring that the federal government will only recognize two genders and that government-issued identification documents should reflect a person’s sex “at conception.”

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Trump’s order contradicts the 2020 Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County which declared anti-trans discrimination as a form of sex-based discrimination forbidden by federal law. The Trump administration has argued that this ruling applies only to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which only covers workplace discrimination.

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Following Trump’s directive, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered that all passport applications requesting an “X” gender marker be suspended as well as any applications listing a person’s gender identity rather than the sex they were assigned, the ACLU’s lawsuit states.

Previously, non-binary applicants were able to self-select an “X” gender marker as were individuals who had not had their birth certificate reissued to show their correct gender after the previous administration of President Joe Biden began allowing it in April 2022.

One of the seven plaintiffs, Zaya Perysian, a 22-year-old transgender woman from California, said she rushed to apply for a new passport last month, hoping she would receive one that included an “F” gender marker before the State Department rescinded its policies. She left disappointed when she received her passport via mail, identifying her as a male.

“We didn’t expect the federal government to turn on us so quickly and render us void, basically,” said Perysian.

“I am not a man and I will not accept being seen as a man while traveling,” she added.

She and six others presented their story to the ACLU. The organization agreed to accept their case and filed the federal lawsuit on February 7 in the District Court of Massachusetts. 

The ACLU argues that Trump’s policy violates the First Amendment’s protection by imposing the president’s ideological beliefs onto citizens, the Equal Protection Clause by discriminating against the plaintiffs on the basis of sex, the Due Process Clause by unlawfully restricting their freedom of movement, and the Administrative Procedures Act for failing to provide advance notice about important changes to government forms.

The ACLU was contacted by 1,500 other transgender individuals, including family members of transpeople, who had similar claims and concerns of gender discrimination and passports not reflecting their identity.

ACLU Legal Director Jessie Rossman said, “This is yet another example of the Trump administration attempting to deny the dignity of transgender people and trying to push them out of public life.”

“These efforts are cruel, unfair, and unlawful. We’re challenging this unconstitutional Passport Policy because all people deserve the freedom to live their lives safely and with dignity,” she added.

Additionally, the ACLU, along with Lambda Legal and the law firms of Hogan Lovells and Jenner & Block, filed a lawsuit on behalf of a group of trans youth and their families against the Trump Administration on February 4 challenging Trump’s executive order banning people under the age of 19 from receiving gender-affirming care.

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