On a sunny morning early this week, a dozen people queued outside the Seattle Passport Agency building on Fifth Avenue, file folders in hand filled with the documents necessary to navigate the bureaucracy of getting a new federal ID.
Among them was John, a 42-year-old trans man hoping to get not only his first-ever passport, but one with the correct gender marker listed. (John is a pseudonym. He asked Cascade PBS not to use his real name for privacy concerns and because of the sensitive nature of the issue.)
John’s visit to the passport office came just a few business days after a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s executive order requiring that gender markers on federal identification documents must reflect one’s biological sex at conception.
The executive order reversed a previous practice by the U.S. Department of State and eliminated a 2022 Biden administration policy to allow non-binary people to mark their gender as “X” on federal IDs. In response, the ACLU sued along with seven trans and non-binary plaintiffs, arguing Trump’s policy is arbitrary and capricious and violates trans and non-binary Americans’ right to travel, privacy and equal protection.
In April, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction in Orr v. Trump requiring the State Department to allow six plaintiffs to get passports with the gender marker that matches their identity. Lawyers then successfully filed to expand their suit to cover all individuals impacted by the executive order.
On June 17, U.S. District Court of Massachusetts Judge Julia Kobick ordered the State Department to allow people to self-select the sex on their passport, even if it differs from their sex at birth, while the lawsuit works its way through the courts.
John has upcoming international travel plans that require a passport, but his primary motivation is the security and flexibility of having a federal ID that matches his gender. He wanted to act quickly in case the injunction was overturned.
“It’s daily anxiety,” said John. “You never know what new shit is going to come through the pipeline.”
About an hour after heading in for his appointment, John walked out unsuccessful. The passport office employee told him that despite the court order, they couldn’t issue new passports with self-selected gender markers until the U.S. State Department issued guidance on how to proceed.
“I’m a pretty cynical person,” said John. “I walked in and didn’t think it would work out. I’m used to life being kind of rough. But I’m disappointed.”
Trans people in John’s position are now stuck in limbo waiting for the State Department to comply with the injunction and issue guidance to local passport offices.
Asked for comment by Cascade PBS, a State Department spokesperson wrote in an email that “the Department is taking immediate steps to implement the court order.”
Left: Renee Raketty was given a notice from the State Department after she received a passport without her correct gender listed. Right: Raketty holds up the passport photo attached to her passport application. (Genna Martin/Cascade PBS)
Renee Raketty explained that getting a passport with the correct gender marker isn’t just about being treated equally and fairly by the American government, though that’s part of it. It is a safety issue. Raketty is publisher of Seattle Gay News and a trans woman.
“When you have a document that’s inaccurate, that outs you every time you present it, that is a weapon,” she said. “That is not a document that provides any kind of safety or will allow you to travel freely.”
Kai Aprill-Tomlin, communications director at the Seattle-based trans rights organization Gender Justice League, echoed Raketty.
“It's vital to understand that this issue isn't just about whether we have a piece of paper that makes us feel good or not,” Aprill-Tomlin said. “Trans people having accurate identity documentation is a matter of our physical safety — sometimes our literal survival.”
He explained that being outed as trans by one’s ID increases the risk of harassment, discrimination and violence. When flying, an inaccurate ID can lead to additional screenings and delays and, when traveling abroad, potential denial of entry, refusal to board and detention, Aprill-Tomlin said.
Raketty attempted to update the gender marker on her passport after Donald Trump was reelected but before he took office. She ran into problems during the process and ended up with a passport marked as male.
Raketty went to the Downtown Seattle passport office the day after the injunction to apply for an updated ID. She said she was one of several trans Seattleites at the office that day hoping to take advantage of the window provided by the federal court. She too was told there was nothing officials could do until the office received guidance from D.C. leadership.
Trans applicants have been denied the ability to change gender markers on their passports this week at the Seattle U.S. Passport Agency, despite a June 17 U.S. District Court decision that allows people to self-select the sex on their passport. (Genna Martin/Cascade PBS)
She’s now twice had to cancel international travel plans, this time for an upcoming work trip to Canada.
“I can’t present a false document … I’m not going to present this document to TSA and hope for the best,” Raketty said. “I’m not going to present this document to Canadian immigration and have the document say one thing, but present as another. I’m not going to show this document at the hotel because the clerk doesn’t need to know what gender I was born, they don’t need to know my whole life story. I just need a safe place to stay.”
The ACLU’s national office did not respond to a request for an interview, but it has published a Q&A to help people navigate the impact of the injunction. In it, the organization acknowledges that people who’ve applied for changes in the wake of the injunction have been stonewalled by their local passport offices due to the lack of federal guidance.
The Q&A states: “We are in the process of seeking further clarification on how and when the State Department will implement the court order. For this reason, we recommend that individuals not apply yet for a new, renewed or corrected passport.”
Raketty said she fears that if people don’t act fast, they might miss their window to get accurate passports, should something change in the court proceedings. She also hopes that those who’ve applied during the injunction window will have a legal right to corrected passports and will eventually receive them.
“My whole belief is if you have travel plans, demand to be treated equally and justly by our government. If you have an inaccurate passport, you have nothing to lose. … Apply for your documents as you’re entitled to do as an American citizen,” said Raketty.
Amid the litany of federal, state and local anti-trans laws regulating bathroom use, military service, health care access and more, Aprill-Tomlin said Gender Justice League is very glad for the injunction and sees it as “a crucial step towards victory in the Orr v. Trump case.”
Renee Raketty fears for the safety of herself and other trans people who are forced to travel without updated gender markers on their passports. (Genna Martin/Cascade PBS)
Raketty said she hopes people understand what life is like for their trans neighbors, family and community members right now: “I want Americans to ask themselves, on a basic principal of dignity: Is this how we want to treat our citizens? And, if not, what can you do about it?”
“Just traveling in this country right now there’s a whole bunch of landmines trans people have to navigate,” Raketty continued. “I literally could get arrested, fined thousands of dollars, for needing to use the bathroom. … Having a federal document as you travel across this landscape of America would give a little more weight in such situations.”
