The Supreme Court of the United States recently ruled in favor of a Trump administration policy that would require American passports to display an individual's biological sex at birth. This decision supports the stance of Attorney General Gentner Drummond and reverses a previous court ruling that had blocked this requirement for new passports, according to the Oklahoma Attorney General's website.
In the majority opinion, the justices stated, "Displaying passport holders’ sex at birth no more offends equal protection principles than displaying their country of birth – in both cases the Government is merely attesting to a historical fact without subjecting anyone to differential treatment." This perspective is what Drummond and 25 other states had hoped to reinforce through an amicus brief eagerly supporting the previous administration's policy.
According to the Oklahoma Attorney General's office, Drummond lauded the ruling, saying, “I applaud the Justices on the nation’s high court for upholding this commonsense policy from the Trump Administration.” He further added, “Putting one’s biological sex on a government document – especially one that has national security implications – should not be considered political in nature. I’m proud to stand with my colleagues from around the nation to support President Trump’s lawful actions in office.”
The amicus brief led by Drummond argued that the Constitution permits the government to issue papers that record sex rather than subjective identities and that recording only sex on passports is a legitimate and rational choice. The brief aimed to firmly support the approach that an individual’s biological sex at birth should be adequately reflected in one of the most definitive pieces of identification a citizen possesses.
