“The Passport Policy […] is motivated by impermissible animus,” ACLU attorney Jessie Rossman wrote in the lawsuit. “It cannot be justified under any level of judicial scrutiny, and it wrongly seeks to erase the reality that transgender, intersex, and nonbinary people exist today as they always have.”
Seven transgender Americans have filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump and the U.S. Department of State, claiming that a new policy prohibiting people from changing gender markers on passports infringes on their constitutional rights.
According to The New York Times, the lawsuit largely relates to an executive order entitled “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” It directs the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security to implement changes to government-issued identification documents, stating that they must “accurately reflect” the holder’s sex as either “male” or “female.”
The order was among the first that Trump signed upon taking office.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the plaintiffs, argues that the executive order contradicts constitutional prohibitions in sex discrimination; attorneys also say that it violates their clients’ rights to privacy and free speech.
“The Passport Policy […] is motivated by impermissible animus,” ACLU attorney Jessie Rossman wrote in the lawsuit. “It cannot be justified under any level of judicial scrutiny, and it wrongly seeks to erase the reality that transgender, intersex, and nonbinary people exist today as they always have.”
Reid Solomon-Lane, one of the seven plaintiffs, said that he has spent “virtually my entire adult life” living as a man.
“At this point in my life, having transitioned so long ago, my trans status is not something I think about every day,” Solomon-Lane said in a statement. “To have something that challenges my identity so deeply, and to feel that you are losing your status as an American citizen simply because of being transgender, nonbinary or intersex, is terrifying.”
“Everyone in my personal and professional life knows me as a man, and any stranger on the street who encountered me would view me as a man,” he said.
“If my passport were to reflect a sex designation that is inconsistent with whom I am, I would be forcibly outed every time I used my passport for travel or identification, causing potential risks to my safety and my family’s safety,” Solomon-Lane said.
The White House has since pledged to defend its passport policy in court.
“Radical Leftists can either choose to swim against the tide and reject the overwhelming will of the people, or they can get on board and work with President Trum to advance his wildly popular agenda,” White House spokesperson Harrison Fields told the New York Times in an emailed statement.v
Sources
Transgender Americans Challenge Trump’s Passport Policy in Court
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