Transgender Americans aim to block Trump’s passport change

When Ash Lazarus Orr went to renew his passport in early January, the transgender organizer thought it would be relatively routine.

But more than two months, Orr is waiting to obtain a new passport with a name change and a reflecting sex designation which it is. The delay prevented him from traveling abroad to receive care affirmed by the sexes this month in Ireland because he refuses to obtain a passport which lists an “inaccurate sexual designation”.

Orruming the delay in President Donald Trump, who the day he took up his duties issued an executive decree prohibiting the use of the marker “X” as well as the modification of gender markers. 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.

“This prevents me from having a precise identification and the freedom to move to the country as well as on the international level,” said Orr, who is one of the seven complainants – five transgender Americans and two non -binary complainants – who continued the Trump administration before the Federal Court concerning politics. “It really has really hampered my life and my freedom too … The government wonders who I am as trans trans.”

The American Civil Liberties Union continues the federal government on their behalf and will be in court on Tuesday in Boston to request a preliminary injunction, which would arouse policy while the court trial takes place in court.

In their trial, the ACLU described how a woman made her return her passport with a male designation while others are too afraid of submitting their passports because they fear that their candidates are suspended and that their passports held by the State Department. Another posted in his passport on January 9 and asked for a change of name and change their sexual designation of the man to the woman. This person is still waiting for his passport – which means that he cannot leave Canada where he lives and could miss a family wedding in May and a conference in botany in July.

“All have faced previous ill -treatment due to their gender identity, and they fear that having incorrect sexual designations on their passports causes them ill -treatment – including endangering them,” wrote aclu.

Before requesting his new passport, Orr was accused in early January by the US Transportation Security Administration of using false documents when they travel from Virginia -Western to New York – because he had a male designation on his driving license but a woman on her passport. This prompted him to ask for the updated passport with a sexual designation of man – four days before Trump started in power.

“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 argue that the president has a large discretionary power in passport policy and that the complainants are not injured by politics, because they are always free to travel abroad.

“Some complainants also allege that having inconsistent identification documents will increase the risk that a civil servant discovers that it is transgender,” wrote the Ministry of Justice. “But the ministry is not responsible for the choice of complainants to change their sexual designation for state documents but not their passport.”

After the Trump Decree, the State Department quickly ceased to issue travel documents with the “X” gender marker preferred by many non -binary people, who do not identify themselves as strictly masculine or woman, and used by certain intersex people, who have sexual characteristics that are not outside the traditional definitions of men or women. The ministry has also ceased to allow people to change the sex listed on their passport or to obtain new ones who reflect their sex rather than their gender attributed to birth.

Applications that had already been submitted in search of gender marker changes were suspended. The State Department has also replaced its web page with information for travelers “LGBTQI +” to “LGB”, deleting any reference to transgender or intersex people.

The passport policy has been one of several actions taken by Trump since his return to functions that could suffocate the rights and legal recognition of transgender, intersex and non -binary persons.

The same order that seeks to define the sexes to exclude them would also require transgender women in prison in men’s establishments. Additional orders could open the door to kicking the members of the Transgender Army service, with the exception of the use of federal taxpayers to provide sex for transgender people under 19 and keeping transgender girls and women outside the sports competitions for girls and women.