• Trump administration appeals to Supreme Court over passport gender marker policy.
• The policy requires designations based strictly on biological sex, excluding nonbinary options.
• A federal judge previously blocked this policy, stating it violated equal protection rights.
• Justice Department argues against the use of 'inaccurate' gender markers on official documents.
• Rights groups condemn the policy as discriminatory towards transgender individuals.

The Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow it to enforce a controversial passport policy that mandates gender markers reflect only biological sex, effectively eliminating options for transgender and nonbinary individuals. The Justice Department's emergency request aims to lift a federal judge's order that safeguards the right to choose gender designations that align with one's gender identity, including the "X" marker intended for nonbinary applicants, according to Reuters and CBS News.

The administration's request follows a 2021 executive order from Trump, which specifically defined sex as an immutable biological classification, thus requiring the State Department to issue passports that reflect this definition. U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick, who issued a preliminary injunction in April, argued that the policy stemmed from irrational prejudice against transgender Americans, violating their rights under the Fifth Amendment. The appeals court upheld her ruling, prompting the administration's appeal to the Supreme Court, as outlined by Newsweek and Los Angeles Times.

In the wake of this policy change, multiple rights organizations have condemned the Trump administration's actions as unjustifiable and discriminatory, coming at the expense of transgender individuals' essential rights. Jon Davidson, senior counsel for the ACLU, emphasized the administration's escalating steps to limit transgender rights, asserting their commitment to defending individuals' freedoms, including the freedom to travel safely and authentically, as reported by Al Jazeera and Los Angeles Times.