
Judge says government can’t limit passport sex markers for many transgender, nonbinary people
BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge expanded a ruling Tuesday that blocked the Trump administration from enacting policy changes to sex markers on passports for many transgender and nonbinary Americans.
In an executive order signed in January, the president used a narrow definition of the sexes instead of a broader conception of gender. The order says a person is male or female and it rejects the idea that someone can transition from the sex assigned at birth to another gender.
U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick granted a motion to apply her earlier ruling to people who want a passport different than the male/female sex designation they were given at birth and those who want an X designation.
The ruling applies only to those people who are currently without a valid passport, those whose passport is expiring within a year, and those who need to apply for a passport because theirs was lost or stolen or because they need to change their name or sex designation.