Judge stops Trump policy on transgender passport gender markers

A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration's policy preventing transgender and nonbinary Americans from obtaining passports with accurate gender markers. This decision halts the policy's implementation while a lawsuit proceeds. The judge, appointed by President Biden, sided with the ACLU, which argued the policy discriminated against transgender individuals. The ruling requires the State Department to issue passports reflecting the gender identity of six plaintiffs in the case. The blocked policy, enacted via executive order, limited gender designations to male or female. The ACLU plans to seek broader application of the ruling, while the Trump administration argued the policy was constitutional and did not harm travelers.