On June 17, 2025, the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts ordered that the State Department must allow people with a gender identity different from their sex assigned at birth to self-select the sex designation on their passport while the ACLU’s Orr contra Trump case proceeds.  

Get more information about the status of Orr contra Trump. 

The court certified two classes: the M/F Designation Class and the X Designation Class. 

The M/F Designation Class includes all individuals: 

• Whose gender identity is different from their sex assigned at birth and/or who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria and 

• Who have applied (or would have applied if not for the Trump Administration’s passport policy) for a U.S. passport with an “M” or “F” designation that is different from their sex assigned at birth. 

The X Designation Class includes all individuals: 

• Whose gender identity is different from their sex assigned at birth and 

• Who have applied (or would have applied if not for the Trump Administration’s passport policy) for a U.S. passport with an “X” designation. 

You can apply for a passport with a sex marker consistent with your gender identity if: 

1. You are part of the M/F Designation Class or the X Designation Class y 

2. You either: 
   • Do not have a currently valid passport; 
   • Need to renew your passport because it expires within one year; 
   • Need to change your passport to correct your sex designation or reflect a name change; or 
   • Need to apply for another passport because your passport was lost, stolen, or damaged. 

No. If you fit into the descriptions above, you are part of the class. In order to access relief, the State Department requires that you complete an attestation form and submit it with your application to affirm that the preliminary injunction applies to you. 

The order is in effect now. As of June 17, the State Department is legally required to comply with the court order. On July 2, the State Department issued instructions for class members to access relief pursuant to the Court’s preliminary injunction order. Those instructions can be found here. If you are a class member, you must submit a completed attestation form with your passport application in order to identify yourself as a class member and let the State Department know what sex marker you want on your passport. If you are selecting an “M” or “F” designation, you should select that on the attestation form as well as your application. If you are selecting an “X” designation, you should leave the sex field blank on your application and select “X” on the attestation form. If the State Department receives an application without an attestation and determines that you may be a class member, the State Department will send you a letter requesting the attestation, which must be submitted within 90 days of receiving such notice. 

The State Department requires that you complete an application in-person to obtain a new passport or replace a lost, stolen, or damaged passport. Applications to renew a passport or change information on an existing passport can be mailed in. Whether you are applying in person or by mail, members of the class must complete a PDF version of the application to access relief through the court ordered injunction (due to technical limitations you cannot use the online form filler) and must submit the attestation with your application. 

Not at this time. The Trump Administration has stopped processing changes of gender markers on  CRBAs.  

 There is no litigation currently pending about CRBAs but we will update this as things may evolve. 

No. This decision only impacts the sex designation on passports. 

Sí. A día de hoy, todavía es posible cambiar el nombre en los documentos federales. 

Orientación en línea La Administración del Seguro Social (“SSA”) establece que uno debe cambiar su nombre con la SSA después de cambiar su nombre en el tribunal de sucesiones. No tenemos conocimiento de ninguna sanción por no actualizar con la SSA (por ejemplo, no es uno de los que figuran en la lista). responsabilidad de informar artículos para quienes reciben Ingreso de Seguridad Suplementario), ni estamos familiarizados con ninguna fecha límite establecida para actualizar la SSA.  

Dicho esto, no tener un nombre actualizado en la SSA podría resultar en la revocación de una licencia de conducir que incluya un nombre inconsistente (ver Leone v. Comisionado, Oficina de Vehículos Motorizados de Indiana, 933 NE2d 1244 (2010)), problemas para proporcionar un documento de la Lista C para los procedimientos de autorización de empleo del Formulario I-9, o un verificador de identidad privado que recibe una SSA “carta de no coincidencia" al verificar su identidad para fines laborales o médicos. En consecuencia, se sugiere que las personas actualicen su nombre en la SSA después de obtener un cambio de nombre legal en el tribunal. 

No tenemos conocimiento de que exista un requisito para reflejar un cambio de nombre legal en un pasaporte estadounidense no vencido. La Oficina de Aduanas y Protección Fronteriza de Estados Unidos advierte que los ciudadanos estadounidenses y los residentes permanentes legales “deberían llevar consigo pruebas [certificadas] de la progresión de su nombre, como… documentos judiciales que demuestren un cambio de nombre legal”.  

Los solicitantes de un pasaporte nuevo o renovado no deben utilizar falsamente su nombre legal anterior en su solicitud, ya que el Formulario DS-11 y el Formulario DS-82 requieren que “las declaraciones realizadas en la solicitud sean verdaderas y correctas”.  

Las personas trans y no binarias han informado de un aumento de las demoras o interrogatorios cuando viajan al extranjero con documentos de identidad que no coinciden. Tener el nombre correcto y actualizado en el pasaporte también puede ser útil para fines como proporcionar un documento de la Lista A para los procedimientos de autorización de empleo del Formulario I-9.  

Si usted es un ciudadano estadounidense nacido en el extranjero y tiene un Informe Consular de Nacimiento en el Extranjero, ya no podrá cambiar su marcador de género en ese registro.  

Si nació en los EE. UU., la ley estatal determina si puede modificar su marcador de género. Esta Orden Ejecutiva no modificó la ley estatal. Si puede modificar su identidad de acuerdo con las leyes o normas de su estado, aún puede hacerlo.   

El Orr contra Trump lawsuit does not directly impact state-issued birth certificates. However, the court order requires the State Department to allow class members (defined above) to self-select M, F, or X on the passport application. In other words, the sex designation on your birth certificate does not have to match the sex designation you are seeking on your passport. 

It is possible that the government could request a “stay” of the Court’s decision. A stay is a temporary suspension of enforcement of a court order. If the government is granted a stay, then this order is essentially put on hold. Given that the government issued instructions by which class members can access the court ordered relief on July 2, 2025, we encourage class members to follow the instructions on the State Department’s website to access that relief as soon as possible. 

What should I do if I need to apply for/renew a Passport or Visa now?    

In order to access relief, the State Department requires that you complete an attestation form and submit it with your application to affirm that the preliminary injunction applies to you. 

If you apply for a new Passport or a renewal, as with any Passport process, the agency may retain your documents for some time.  Please make sure to keep certified copies of any identity documents you submit so that you have valid identification during the application process. 

The order doesn’t specifically address existing passports. Until new policies are announced, previously issued documents should remain valid through their expiration dates.  

 The matters are currently being litigated and there may well be changes coming in the future. We will continue to monitor developments around this order closely and will update this document as we learn more information.  We have no indication that people are unable to travel with these documents or with federal documents that may be inconsistent with state documents. 

No hay nada en la orden ejecutiva que sugiera que se deba rechazar el vuelo a personas con marcadores de género no conformes en documentos válidos. GLAD Law está siguiendo de cerca los acontecimientos relacionados con esta orden y actualizará este documento a medida que obtengamos más información. 

No hay nada en la orden ejecutiva que sugiera que se deba rechazar el vuelo a personas con marcadores de género no conformes en documentos válidos. GLAD Law está siguiendo de cerca los acontecimientos relacionados con esta orden y actualizará este documento a medida que obtengamos más información.   

GLAD Law sigue de cerca los acontecimientos y no podemos ofrecer información al respecto en este momento. Las personas deben evaluar individualmente cuáles son los mejores pasos a seguir y, a medida que aprendamos más sobre cómo se está modificando la política federal para cumplir con las directivas de la administración, compartiremos más información. 

REAL IDs are issued by state governments to meet federal security standards for domestic air travel between and within states and access to federal facilities.  As of May 7, 2025, you will need a REAL ID or federally accepted document for air travel between and within states.  

The federal government has established consistent requirements for obtaining a REAL ID, so the process is the same across all states. However, each state has its own procedures for how to obtain and update identification documents, including how to change your name and gender marker, and each state differs on whether you can obtain an X marker on state identity documents. 

Of course, things are changing quickly.  As of April 25, 2025, the federal government has not changed its REAL ID policies to require states to treat transgender and non-binary people differently.  So as of now, if you live in a state that allows for transgender people to have accurate name and gender markers on state identity documents, you can get a REAL ID that is accurate. 

As we know, the federal government no longer allows people to get X markers on Passports or with social security.  So, if your state allows you to get a REAL ID with an X marker, we do not yet know if this will flag you for additional screenings or barriers at airports.  

If you encounter issues while travelling with your REAL ID, please let us know by contacting Respuestas de la ley GLAD.