Supreme Court order supports Trump admin's passport ruling on gender

New regulations introduced by the Trump administration restrict transgender Americans from choosing passport sex markers that match their gender identity.

WASHINGTON—The leadership of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), including President Randi Weingarten and Executive Vice President Evelyn DeJesus, along with LGBTQIA+ Task Force co-chairs, California Federation of Teachers (CFT) President Jeff Freitas and New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) Secretary-Treasurer J. Philippe Abraham, addressed their concerns following the Supreme Court's decision. This decision permits the Trump administration to mandate that transgender individuals list their birth sex on passports, rather than their self-identified gender.

In a joint statement, the AFT leaders expressed, “The Supreme Court’s emergency order allows the Trump administration to once again trample on Americans’ civil rights. This ruling represents a serious violation—not only of identity and self-expression but of the safety of millions of transgender Americans, who could be harassed or even jailed in many countries around the globe for being who they are. In case after case, this court has enabled this administration to inflict its cruel, extreme agenda on the most vulnerable without credible justification. Americans should be allowed to live safely and with dignity, without fearing that their government will put them at risk.”

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) represents a diverse group of 1.8 million members, including pre-K through 12th-grade educators, school support staff, higher education faculty, government employees, healthcare workers, and early childhood educators.