Trans, nonbinary travelers left stranded as passport rules change

President Donald Trump signed an executive order requiring all U.S. government identity documents to reflect a person’s sex assigned at birth.
The ACLU filed a lawsuit against the State Department on behalf of seven plaintiffs, who were impacted by the passport ban.
The passport ban has caused fear and anxiety among transgender travelers, who already face safety and discrimination concerns, and has restricted their ability to travel freely.

In early January, while flying from West Virginia to New York City, Ashton Orr was flagged by airport security and accused of using a fake ID. Orr’s driver’s license had been updated with a male sex designation, but his passport still listed female.

Orr was pulled aside for further questioning, and it wasn’t until he outed himself as a transgender man that security let him through.

Shaken from the incident, Orr decided it was time to update his passport. He applied for an expedited renewal and sent along important medical documents like his birth certificate on Jan. 16.

A few days later, President Donald Trump took office and signed a sweeping executive order acknowledging only two sexes – male and female – designated at birth. Immediately, the U.S. State Department began to issue passports only “with a male or female sex marker that matches the applicant’s biological sex,” the agency told USA TODAY in an email.

The LGBTQ+ advocate was given two options: withdraw his passport application or receive one with his “biological sex at birth.” With his passport now in limbo, he’s being forced to rearrange an upcoming trip to Ireland in March for a medical procedure.

“It’s very isolating and concerning,” Orr told USA TODAY. “Receiving a passport that misgenders me is not just a clerical error; it’s a profound denial of my identity and my existence. So, I’m in this situation where I either have to choose one horrible thing or the other horrible thing.”

Orr’s experience reflects the struggles now faced by thousands of transgender, nonbinary and intersex Americans who recently applied for a passport only to find themselves either without one or receiving one that doesn’t accurately reflect their gender identity – denying them the right to travel and other opportunities that depend on accurate identification.

Under the Trump administration’s policy, the passport ban and other State Department changes have stirred safety concerns among these travelers, putting them at a greater risk of discrimination and harassment.

A ‘muddled policy’

Trump’s Jan. 20 order “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” directed that all U.S. government identity documents, including passports and visas, must reflect a person’s sex assigned at birth based on birth certificates and past passport records, according to the State Department’s website. Almost immediately, all applications for gender changes or the “X” gender marker – an option since 2022 to accommodate nonbinary or intersex people − were suspended. Those that are still valid can be used until expiration, the agency said.

Shortly after the order, more than 1,500 people affected by the passport ban contacted the American Civil Liberties Union through its legal intake form. On behalf of seven plaintiffs, including Orr, the ACLU, the ACLU of Massachusetts and the law firm Covington & Burling LLP filed a lawsuit Feb. 7 against the State Department to pause the policy.

“The Trump administration is not going to stop here with passports, with identification measures,” said Orr. “This is truly about control at the end of the day, and if we aren’t going to stand up and push back against this, then who’s going to? That’s kind of how I’ve been viewing this as we’ve been approaching this entire situation.”

The complaint accuses the agency of failing to notify the public about the change within the required 60 days, violating the constitutional rights of transgender, nonbinary and intersex people, and discriminating against them based on sex.

After being left in a holding pattern for weeks, transgender applicants have learned their application is approved only if they accept one with their sex at birth, rendering it useless if their driver’s license and birth certificate state otherwise.

“This is about people’s ability to move freely throughout the world. People need to travel abroad for work, for school, for vacation, for joy,” ACLU attorney Aditi Fruitwala said. “It’s restricting their ability to live the life that they want to live and that has real symbolic value by trying to push transgender, nonbinary and intersex people out of public life, and saying that they don’t exist in a very concrete, symbolic way. But they’ve always existed through our entire human history, and they’ll always be here.”

The first hearing is set for March 25 at the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, and until then, there’s not much travelers can do regarding “the muddled policy,” Fruitwala said. The State Department did not provide comment on the lawsuit to USA TODAY.

“There’s no other way around the current passport processing system,” she said. “We are hoping for a good decision and a good decision promptly.”

‘It’s hard enough’

For the transgender community – more than 2 million people in the U.S. – the passport ban adds another layer of fear and anxiety around travel. Many LGBTQ+ travelers already face safety and discrimination concerns, said Matthieu Jost, who founded misterb&b, a travel platform that has vetted more than 2 million accommodations worldwide that welcome LGBTQ+ travelers. Jost, a gay man, created the platform after he and his partner faced discrimination from a vacation rental host in Barcelona in 2014.

“You have to do a lot of research, more than the general population,” he said of the LGBTQ+ travel experience. “You have to be really cautious when you’re traveling, sometimes even while walking the streets.”

Under all the changes by the State Department, transgender, nonbinary and intersex Americans who have valid passports still feel hesitant to travel.

Mikelle Cao, a Las Vegas transgender woman whose passport was updated in December, said she’s nervous to even travel within the U.S. and keeps her passport safe at home out of fear of losing it. “Trans people are just trying to survive. It’s hard enough to add this extra hurdle,” the content creator told USA TODAY.

“We also want to feel safe when we’re out, when we’re using the restroom; we also want to feel safe when we’re traveling,” Cao said. “A big part in safety comes with proving who we are if a police officer asks us for our ID, if a random security guard asks for our ID.”

Meanwhile, Orr is dealing with his travel insurance and the airline because he won’t be able to leave the U.S. come March. “I’m running into issues with the airline because they don’t exactly have a segment in their insurance policies that handles people having their passports taken by the government,” he said.

Navigating the uncertain future of his community has brought up an overwhelming mix of emotions for Orr, who is also planning to flee from West Virginia because of growing hostility. “I’m having to learn how to find trans joy and hope in the smallest moments of my everyday life while also having to hold the grief of navigating this lawsuit,” he said.

“This is such a hard and scary time, and knowing that I’m in solidarity and that I’m in community with others is really helpful.”