The Supreme Court on Thursday permitted the Trump administration’s policy requiring U.S. passports to reflect a traveler’s biological sex, marking a significant legal victory for the administration. The decision, issued through an unsigned order, affirmed that displaying sex at birth does not violate equal protection principles, comparing it to recording a person’s country of birth as a neutral administrative fact.

The ruling represents the 24th Supreme Court win for President Donald Trump during his tenure, according to the article. It directly impacts transgender and nonbinary individuals, who had challenged the policy as unconstitutional. The State Department previously allowed sex markers to be updated based on medical documentation, but the Trump administration’s approach reverted to aligning passports with birth-assigned genders.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, a Biden appointee, dissented in the case, criticizing the majority for disregarding equitable outcomes. “This court has once again paved the way for the immediate infliction of injury without adequate justification,” she wrote. The American Civil Liberties Union condemned the decision as a setback for LGBTQ+ rights, arguing it risks exposing transgender individuals to harassment and violence.

The policy’s origins trace back to 1976, when U.S. passports included sex markers. In 2021, the Biden administration expanded options to include an “X” designation for nonbinary and intersex individuals, a change reversed by the Trump-era rule. The court’s emergency docket action underscores ongoing legal battles over transgender rights amid broader debates about state laws targeting gender identity.