Breaking: Federal judge blocks Rubio's anti-trans, anti-nonbinary passport policy for all

Judge Julia Kobick granted a classwide preliminary injunction that applies to all trans and nonbinary people on Tuesday.

Jun 17, 2025

A federal judge in Massachusetts on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from refusing to process and issue passport applications for transgender and nonbinary people in accordance with their gender identity.

U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick granted class certification in the lawsuit challenging Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s anti-trans and anti-nonbinary passport policy. Specifically, she certified a class of transgender people seeking “an ‘M’ or ‘F’ sex designation that is different from the sex assigned to that individual under“ the Trump administration’s anti-trans policy and a class of those people seeking “a U.S. passport with an ‘X’ designation.“

CONCLUSIONS AND ORDERS For the foregoing reasons, the plaintiffs' motion for class certification, ECF 77, is GRANTED as MODIFIED by this Court. The following classes are CERTIFIED: 1. A class of all people (1) whose gender identity is different from the sex assigned to them under the Passport Policy and/or who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, and (2) who have applied, or who, but for the Passport Policy, would apply, for a U.S. passport issued with an "M" or "F" sex designation that is different from the sex assigned to that individual under the Passport Policy ("M/F Designation Class"); 2. A class of all people whose gender identity is different from the sex assigned to them under the Passport Policy and who have applied, or who, but for the Passport Policy, would apply, for a U.S. passport with an "X" designation ("X Designation Class").

Kobick, a Biden appointee who previously issued a preliminary injunction applying only to the named plaintiffs who sued, expanded that injunction to the whole class, ordering Rubio and others to “process and issue passports” as would have been allowed on January 19 — through self-selection.

Defendants Marco Rubio, in his official capacity as Secretary of State, and the U.S. Department of State jointly, the "Agency Defendants"), as well as all officers, agents, employees, attorneys, and any other persons acting in concert with or behalf of the Agency Defendants, are ENJOINED from enforcing the Passport Policy, as that term is defined in today's Memorandum and Order, see ECF 115, at 1-2, as to members of the PI Class. The Agency Defendants are further ENJOINED to process and issue passports to members of the PI Class consistent with the State Department's policy as of January 19, 2025, and to permit members of the PI Class to self-select a sex designation "M," "F," or "X" - that is different from the sex assigned to those individuals under the Passport Policy.

As such, although this is an injunction that applies across the country, it is not the type of “nationwide injunction” that has faced criticism and is before the U.S. Supreme Court in the context of preliminary injunctions against Trump’s order seeking to end birthright citizenship.

The order went on to set forth the permitted process if the Trump administration “conclude[s] that it is necessary to request additional information to determine whether a passport applicant is a member” of the class that was certified on Tuesday:

If the Agency Defendants conclude that it is necessary to request additional information to determine whether a passport applicant is a member of the PI Class, they may instruct applicants to attest, by checking a box, to the following statement when they submit their passport application: "If I am selecting a sex marker that is different than the sex on my original birth certificate, or if I am selecting an 'X' sex marker, I confirm that a least one of the following is true: (1) my gender identity is different from the sex assigned to me at birth, or (2) I have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. I further confirm that I am applying for a passport because one of the following is true: (1) I do not have a currently-valid passport, (2) I need to renew my current passport because it expires within one year, (3) I need to make changes to my passport to have the sex designation on it align with my gender identity or to reflect a name change, or (4) I need to apply for another passport because my passport was lost, stolen or damaged."

Finally, Kobick ordered that her ruling goes into effect immediately.

The Trump administration previously filed their notice of appeal of the individual preliminary injunction on June 13, so expect an appeal here as well.

This is a developing story. Check back at Law Dork for the latest.

Slack System

Wow, amazingly good news. Chris, do you think it's likely that the injunction will be in place long enough for a typical American to apply for a passport with name change documents and selecting a gender marker in this way, and get it back? I'm worried about my fiancee sending in her application because of this but a stay being issued by a higher court and State confiscating her passport or sending it back wrong as has happened to others recently.

Expand full comment

1 reply

John Herrmann

That's a strong ruling and she seems to have anticipated the various ways the administration might have tried to delay implementation. Kudos to Judge Kobick!

13 more comments...

Breaking: Federal judge blocks Rubio's anti-trans, anti-nonbinary passport policy for all

Judge Julia Kobick granted a classwide preliminary injunction that applies to all trans and nonbinary people on Tuesday.

Discussion about this post