By Michael Casey, Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) – A federal judge prevented the Trump administration on Friday from promulgating a policy that prohibits the use of the “X” marker used by many non -binary people on passports as well as the change of gender markers.
In an executive decree signed in January, the president used a close definition of the sexes instead of a broader design of the genre. The order indicates that a person is a man or a woman and rejects the idea that someone can go from sex attributed to birth to another sex. The framing conforms to the opinions of many conservatives but in contradiction with the main medical and political groups under former president Joe Biden.
The American district judge Julia Kobick, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, took sides of the request of the American American Liberties Union for a preliminary injunction, which remains the action while the trial takes place.
“The executive decree and the passport policy on their face classify passport applicants on the basis of sex and must therefore be examined under intermediate judicial control,” wrote Kobick. “This standard obliges the government to demonstrate that its actions are substantially linked to a significant government interest. The government has not respected this standard. “
The ACLU, which continued the Trump administration in the name of five transgender Americans and two non -binary complainants, said that the new policy would effectively mean transgender, non -binary and intersexual Americans could not obtain a precise passport.
“We all have the right to precise identity documents, and this policy invites harassment, discrimination and violence against transgender Americans who can no longer obtain or renew a passport that corresponds to who they are,” said ACLU lawyer Sruti Swaminathan.
In response to the trial, the Trump administration argued that the change in passport policy “does not violate the equal protection guarantees of the Constitution”. They also argued that the president had a large discretionary power in the passport policy and that the applicants would not be injured by politics, because they are always free to travel abroad.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
