Washington, DC – A bicameral group of lawmakers are calling upon the State Department to reverse the Trump Administration’s unjust and unlawful policy of withholding passports from American citizens based on their sex.
Following an executive order from President Trump, the State Department suspended passport applications for gender marker corrections and the option to use the X gender marker. The Department has also been withholding existing passports sent in for renewal. This discriminatory action affects transgender, non-binary, and intersex Americans by denying them access to a critical form of identification and making international travel potentially dangerous or impossible.
Today, a bicameral group of lawmakers led by Rep. Kevin Mullin (CA-15) called upon Secretary of State Marco Rubio to immediately resume processing passport applications without regard to sex, including for individuals requesting an X marker and by allowing individuals to select a gender marker in accordance with their identity and expression.
“We believe this policy change also unconstitutionally and irrationally targets transgender, intersex, and non-binary Americans, without any apparent connection to a legitimate state interest, let alone an important state interest as required to justify discrimination on the basis of sex,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter. “Having an ID that does not accurately reflect a person’s gender identity can lead to harassment, discrimination, and even violence. These possibilities will make traveling abroad simply too risky for countless Americans.”
Lawmakers have heard from constituents affected by this issue who are fearful about their future. This sudden and sweeping policy rollout has forced transgender, intersex, and non-binary Americans – and their families – to change or cancel important trips to visit loved ones and conduct business abroad. It has also prevented them from using their passport in circumstances that require presenting a government-issued identification document, such as when starting a new job.
Sixty-seven lawmakers from the House of Representatives and Senate signed the letter including: Congressional Equality Caucus Chair Mark Takano (CA-39), Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Gregory Meeks (NY-5), Ranking Member of the House Committee on the Judiciary Jamie Raskin (MD-8), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Agriculture Angie Craig (MN-2), Ranking Member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee Frank Pallone (NJ-6), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee Maxine Waters (CA-43), Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee Jared Huffman (CA-2), Representative Kevin Mullin (CA-15), and Senators Cory Booker (NJ), Edward J. Markey (MA), Jeff Merkley (OR), Alex Padilla (CA), and Adam B. Schiff (CA). The full list of signers is below.
Read the letter here.
Full list of signers: Representatives Gabe Amo (RI-01), Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Becca Balint (VT), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), André Carson (IN-07), Sean Casten (IL-06), Judy Chu (CA-28), Gilbert Cisneros (CA-31), Angie Craig (MN-02), Sharice Davids (KS-03), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Diana DeGette (CO-01), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07), Laura Friedman (CA-30), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05), Raúl Grijalva (AZ-07), Jared Huffman (CA-02), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Henry Johnson (GA-04), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37), Timothy Kennedy (NY-26), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Greg Landsman (OH-01), Rick Larsen (WA-02), Sam Liccardo (CA-16), Ted Lieu (CA-36), Seth Magaziner (RI-02), Sarah McBride (DE), Gregory Meeks (NY-05), Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Eleanor Norton (DC), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Frank Pallone (NJ-06), Scott Peters (CA-50), Brittany Pettersen (CO-07), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Emily Randall (WA-06), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Linda Sánchez (CA-38), Janice Schakowsky (IL-09), Eric Sorensen (IL-17), Greg Stanton (AZ-4), Eric Swalwell (CA-14), Emilia Sykes (OH-13), Mark Takano, Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Lori Trahan (MA-03), Maxine Waters (CA-43), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), and Senators Cory Booker (NJ), Edward J. Markey (MA), Jeff Merkley (OR), Alex Padilla (CA), and Adam B. Schiff (CA).
Click here to learn more about what Rep. Mullin is doing to address harmful policies from the Trump Administration.
###