Trans Plaintiffs Won A Victory Against Rubio in Getting Accurate Passports
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| There is one item Rubio has never changed, Always Anti LGBTQ Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies in front of a Senate committee in Washington, DC, on May 20, 2025. | © Jack Gruber/USA TODAY / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images |
Multiple courts have now ruled against Marco Rubio's discriminatory policy.
A federal judge in Maryland has ordered the State Department to provide emergency relief to six transgender plaintiffs who were denied accurate passports in the wake of an anti-trans executive order.
In January, Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered that all passport applications requesting an “X” gender marker be suspended, as well as any applications listing a person’s gender identity rather than the sex they were assigned at birth. The move was a result of the president’s executive order declaring there are only two immutable genders.
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Since then, multiple courts have issued or upheld injunctions against Rubio’s mandate, which the Maryland decision acknowledged.)
“Like every other court that has considered this Executive Order,” wrote Chief Judge George L. Russell III, “the Court finds its stated purpose does not serve an important governmental interest that is exceedingly persuasive; further, the discriminatory means employed are not substantially related to the achievement of those objectives.”
The judge issued a preliminary injunction in favor of six of the seven plaintiffs after saying they successfully demonstrated they were likely to suffer irreparable harm without immediate access to accurate passports. The seventh plaintiff’s case was dismissed because he had not yet been denied a passport with the correct gender markers.
“This is a crucial victory for our clients and transgender people nationwide who have been trapped by this administration’s cruel and discriminatory policy,” Lambda Legal Counsel Carl Charles said in a statement.
“The court recognized that forcing inaccurate identity documents on transgender Americans causes immediate and irreparable harm. Our clients can now travel with dignity and safety while we continue fighting to overturn this discriminatory policy entirely.”
“This preliminary injunction is an important first step, but our work is far from over,” Charles added. “We will continue fighting until this discriminatory policy is struck down permanently.”
Earlier this year, a judge issued a preliminary injunction for another group of plaintiffs, who sued with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Judge Julia Kobick then granted class certification, meaning the State Department is forbidden from enforcing the policy and will have to issue passports with the correct gender markers for all trans people and an “X” gender marker for nonbinary people who apply for it.
On September 4, a judge upheld Kobick’s preliminary injunction and class certification, rejecting the administration’s appeal.
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