On Thursday, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the federal government’s right to require passports to display an applicant’s biological sex.
The policy comes after months of effort by the Trump Administration to reverse gender ideology rules at the federal level. Under the Biden Administration, those applying for a passport could indicate the “gender” they wanted (“M” for male, “F” for female, or “X” for anything else).
In an unsigned order, the Supreme Court stated the following: “Displaying passport holders’ sex at birth no more offends equal protection principles than displaying their country of birth—in both cases, the Government is merely attesting to a historical fact without subjecting anyone to differential treatment.” Justices Brown Jackson, Sotomayor, and Kagan dissented, arguing that people who identify as the opposite sex will “experience significant anxiety and fear for their safety if required to use passports that reflect their sex assigned at birth rather than their gender identity.”
This decision overturns a lower court order that paused the policy while the lawsuit, brought by a woman who identifies as a man, undergoes litigation. Click here to read more from the Catholic News Agency.