Latest news with #JuliaKobick
Washington Post
5 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Judge pauses Trump's ban on trans, nonbinary passport options
A federal judge has ruled that transgender and nonbinary Americans should be able to reflect their gender identities on newly issued passports, temporarily blocking the Trump administration's efforts to limit the sex options available on new passports. In a court order Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick said the State Department must immediately allow all trans and nonbinary people in need of new passports to be able to self-select the sex designation that appears on the document, widening a preliminary injunction she granted in April for six plaintiffs in the case.
Irish Independent
5 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Independent
US judge blocks Trump passport policy targeting transgender people
©Reuters A federal judge on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump's administration from refusing to issue passports to transgender and nonbinary Americans nationwide that reflect their gender identities. U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick in Boston expanded a preliminary injunction she issued in April that allowed six transgender and nonbinary individuals who challenged the policy to obtain passports consistent with their gender identities or with an "X" sex designation while the lawsuit moves forward.
Fox News
5 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Biden-appointed judge blocks Trump's move to only allow two genders on US passports
Biden-appointed U.S. Judge Julia Kobick issued a ruling Tuesday to temporarily block the Trump administration's move to only allow two genders, male and female, on U.S. passports. In line with an executive order signed by President Donald Trump proclaiming the U.S. only recognizes two genders, the Department of State eliminated the "X" designation on passport applications and suspended a policy allowing people to identify as the opposite sex or as intersex or nonbinary. The move was widely reported by media outlets as "targeting transgender" people. In April, Kobick, who is a federal judge for the U.S. District of Massachusetts, ruled to block the policy with regard to six people who sued the administration over it. Her Tuesday ruling extended her previous ruling to temporarily suspend the policy for all Americans. Kobick stated in her ruling that the suit against the Trump administration's policy is likely to succeed because she finds that it discriminates on the basis of sex, is "arbitrary and capricious" and "rooted in irrational prejudice toward transgender Americans." Kobick wrote that "transgender and non-binary people who possess passports bearing sex markers that conflict with their gender identity and expression are… significantly more likely to experience psychological distress, suicidality, harassment, discrimination, and violence" and that "obtaining gender concordant identity documents is part of the standard of care for treating gender dysphoria." The judge wrote that the policy would cause transgender individuals to "experience anxiety and psychological distress or fear for their safety if they were required to travel with passports bearing a sex designation corresponding to their sex assigned at birth, largely because they would effectively 'out' themselves every time they presented their passports." Trump's order, titled "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government," directed executive agencies to "recognize two sexes, male and female," saying, "these sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality." Though Kobick stated in her ruling that the government failed to demonstrate that the policies are substantially related to an important government interest, Trump's executive order states that "efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex fundamentally attack women by depriving them of their dignity, safety, and well-being" and that "the erasure of sex in language and policy has a corrosive impact not just on women but on the validity of the entire American system." "Across the country, ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex have increasingly used legal and other socially coercive means to permit men to self-identify as women and gain access to intimate single-sex spaces and activities designed for women, from women's domestic abuse shelters to women's workplace showers. This is wrong … Basing Federal policy on truth is critical to scientific inquiry, public safety, morale, and trust in government itself," reads the order.
Malay Mail
6 days ago
- Politics
- Malay Mail
US court orders Trump administration to resume issuing ‘X' gender passports for transgender Americans
WASHINGTON, June 18 — A federal US judge yesterday ordered the Trump administration to resume issuing passports to transgender Americans with 'X' as their gender designation, a practice suspended since Donald Trump's return to the White House. Following Trump's executive order in January, the State Department said it would only recognize two genders—male and female—ending official policies that recognized a third gender, denoted by an 'X' on US passports. In April, US District Judge Julia Kobick in Boston issued a preliminary injunction against that policy, but that ruling applied only to six transgender and non-binary people who had sued the government over the passport policy. The State Department appealed that move Friday. Yesterday, Kobick went further in her ruling by extending it to all transgender and non-binary Americans affected by the policy change and ordered the State Department to resume issuing these passports pending a judgment on the merits of the case or a decision by a higher court. The State Department first issued such a passport in October 2021 under President Joe Biden, with the X gender marker reserved for non-binary, intersex, and gender non-conforming individuals. In his inauguration speech at the US Capitol, Trump said 'as of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.' — AFP
France 24
6 days ago
- Politics
- France 24
US judge orders Trump admin to resume issuing passports for trans Americans
Following Trump's executive order in January, the State Department said it would only recognize two genders -- male and female -- ending official policies that recognized a third gender, denoted by an "X" on US passports. In April, US District Judge Julia Kobick in Boston issued a preliminary injunction against that policy, but that ruling applied only to six transgender and non-binary people who had sued the government over the passport policy. The State Department appealed that move Friday. On Tuesday, Kobick went further in her ruling by extending it to all transgender and non-binary Americans affected by the policy change and ordered the State Department to resume issuing these passports pending a judgment on the merits of the case or a decision by a higher court. The State Department first issued such a passport in October 2021 under President Joe Biden, with the X gender marker reserved for non-binary, intersex, and gender non-conforming individuals. In his inauguration speech at the US Capitol, Trump said "as of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female." © 2025 AFP
