Passports, Trans Rights, and the Supreme Court

In November, the U.S. Supreme Court gave a temporary “green light” to a Trump Administration policy concerning transgender Americans and their passports. The State Department will now only issue passports that match the applicant's sex as shown on their birth certificates. This is a departure from a long-standing policy, which had allowed transgender people to decide which sex identity marker they wanted.

A lower court had blocked the Trump policy from taking effect, saying it violated the constitutional right to Equal Protection. But the administration got the case placed on the Supreme Court's Emergency Docket, and a majority on the high court said the policy could be put into place, while the issue works its way through the courts.  

Today on “The Legal Impact,” we examine this passport issue with the help of our guest, Margaret O’Grady. She’s an Assistant Professor of Law at UNH-Franklin Pierce School of Law, where she teaches courses on Constitutional Law, antitrust law, and related subjects. 

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