A federal judge just ruled that it’s unconstitutional for transgender people to be required to show proof from a doctor that they’re undergoing transition-related care in order to get a passport with the correct gender marker on it.
The State Department “has provided no explanation, let alone any evidence, of why [it] has an important interest in verifying a transgender passport applicant’s gender identity, nor a cogent explanation of why the Policy requiring a physician’s certification increases the accuracy of issued passports,” U.S. District Court Judge Gloria M. Navarro wrote in her ruling.