, Columnist
The Supreme Court Failed the Logic Test on Transgender Passports
Will technology soon make the whole issue moot?
Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
It’s hard to find a good reason for Thursday’s decision by the US Supreme Court to stay a lower court’s preliminary injunction against the Trump administration’s rule requiring that “all new passports must display an individual’s biological sex at birth.”
Since the early 1990s, transgender travelers have been able to choose an appropriate “sex marker,” subject to certain provisions that have varied over time. In January, the State Department reversed that policy. The plaintiffs sued, claiming they’d suffer irreparable harm, and the injunction was granted. That’s the order the court’s majority has now overturned.