• The Supreme Court allows Trump to require passports to display biological sex at birth.
• The "X" gender marker is no longer available, affecting transgender and nonbinary individuals.
• The court's decision was made on a 6-3 vote, with dissent from the three liberal justices.

The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a policy from the Trump administration requiring passport applications to reflect the holder's biological sex at birth, thus barring transgender and nonbinary individuals from selecting their gender identity on travel documents. This decision was reached through a 6-3 vote, halting lower court rulings that temporarily blocked the enforcement of this policy while litigation continues. The Court’s majority argued that "Displaying passport holders’ sex at birth no more offends equal protection principles than displaying their country of birth," effectively stating that the government's role is merely confirming historical facts, according to Reuters, CBS News, and HuffPost.

The ruling allows the administration to discontinue the "X" gender marker option for nonbinary, intersex, and gender non-conforming individuals, reinstating a policy that mandates passport holders designate their gender based on the sex assigned at birth. The lower courts had previously allowed transgender individuals to choose between "M," "F," or "X," but this has now been reversed as the Supreme Court stated that preventing the government's enforcement of the policy could harm international relations, according to ABC News, BBC, and Los Angeles Times.

This decision reflects ongoing legal battles surrounding transgender rights in the U.S., with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, along with fellow liberal justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, dissenting from the majority. Jackson emphasized that the policy would increase the risks of violence and harassment against transgender individuals who present identification documents misaligned with their gender identity, as reported by NPR and SFGate.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed lawsuits challenging these directives, arguing that such policies are a form of discrimination which undermines the rights of individuals to travel without fear of misidentification and harassment. As a result of this ruling, the ACLU warns this decision will have significant implications for transgender rights moving forward, according to India Times and Le Monde.