A controversial executive order signed by Donald Trump in January sparked controversy.
A major announcement has come to light following Donald Trump’s signing of a contentious executive order that imposes restrictions on certain passports in the United States.
It’s another day and, of course, another update from Trump. This one is very much in line with what we’ve come to expect from him.
Since his inauguration on January 20, Trump has been on an ambitious path. Returning to the White House, he quickly signed around 200 executive orders.
While many of these orders addressed issues like climate change and immigration, some have specifically targeted the LG8TQ+ community.
One of the directives issued was ‘Protecting Women from the Extremes of Gender Ideology and Reinstating Biological Truth in Federal Policy.’
This order emphasizes a strict binary understanding of gender male and female, explicitly stating that transgender and non-binary identities will not receive legal acknowledgment.
The changes not only impact the prison system. Where transgender women will no longer be placed in female facilities, but they also have implications for non-binary individuals when it comes to their passports.
Here’s a bit of context for you:
Under the Joe Biden administration, non-binary individuals were allowed to designate their gender as ‘X’ on their passports, a change that went into effect in October 2021. However, following a recent executive order, the processing of these ‘X’ passports and applications has been put on hold.
In an email leaked to The Guardian, Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed his staff, stating, “The policy of the United States is that an individual’s S3X is not changeable.” He emphasized that all official documents, including passports and consular reports of birth abroad, must reflect a person’s biological S3X rather than their gender identity.
What’s happened since this announcement back in January? Here’s the latest news: A federal judge has blocked the ban.
The US District Judge Julia Kobick recently addressed the Executive Order and Passport Policy issue, emphasizing that these measures categorize passport applicants based on their gender. This standard requires the government to prove that its actions are significantly linked to an important public interest, and Kobick concluded that the government has not met this requirement.
According to her, the plaintiffs successfully demonstrated that the new passport policy and executive order stem from irrational bias against transgender Americans.Which violates our nation’s equal protection commitment.
On behalf of five transgender people and two non-binary people, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration. They argued that the policy would prevent these individuals from obtaining passports that accurately reflect their identities.
ACLU lawyer Sruti Swaminathan stated, “Everyone deserves accurate identity documents. This policy opens the door to harassment, discrimination, and even violence against transgender Americans who can no longer obtain or renew passports that truly represent who they are.”
In response, the Trump administration defended the policy, asserting that it does not infringe upon constitutional equal protection rights. Plaintiffs, they claimed, would not suffer any harm from gender changes since they could still apply for passports and travel freely, although with biological S3X markers instead of gender-neutral options like “X.”