On November 6th, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled in favor of the Trump Administration’s policy that passports should identify people based on biological sex, not the sex with which they choose to identify.
“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,” the unsigned order says.
This case, Trump v. Orr, came about after President Donald Trump issued an executive order on his first day in office directing that sex be defined by biology at a cellular level, and that government-issued identification documents such as passports reflect the individual’s biological sex. Seven plaintiffs, who identified as either transgender or nonbinary, pursued the lawsuit in the hopes of being able to choose the sex on their passport based on how they identify rather than their biological sex.
In April, District Court Judge Julia Kobick for the District of Massachusetts gave the plaintiffs a partial victory for their motion on a preliminary injunction to stop the order. This prevented the State Department from fully enforcing the policy and required that plaintiffs be able to change the designation on their passports. Following this, on September 19, the Trump administration asked SCOTUS to stay this injunction. With the November 6 ruling by the Court, the US Department of State is working to develop guidance on how to ensure compliance with the High Court’s decision.
“This decision by the Supreme Court is yet another step in the right direction to return the country back to an acknowledgement of innate, biological sex. This ruling provides common-sense clarity to what has become a fluid and chaotic situation regarding official government documents. The Supreme Court’s ruling is a decisive victory for those who hold fast to the fact that there are only two sexes: male and female,” responded NC Family Vice President Mitch Prosser.
In Related News
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will enact a new policy that will prevent biological males from competing against women in the Olympic Games. Over the summer when she started working on addressing this problem, IOC president Kirsty Coventry said, “We understand that there’ll be differences depending on the sport … but it was very clear from the members that we have to protect the female category, first and foremost to ensure fairness.”
This decision by the IOC is an excellent stride in returning to fairness for women in sport. We applaud this move and are grateful for the example of so many women who have stood courageously in the face of daunting opposition.
In North Carolina…
NC Family is also thankful to our state legislature for taking the steps to officially define ‘male’ and ‘female’ based on biological sex at birth. Earlier this year the North Carolina General Assembly passed SL 2025-84, which recognizes two sexes and defines “male” and “female” based on biological sex in state policy, administrative rules, and regulations.