Passport Updates Are A Go! Advice from Lamda Legal and Others (July 21,2025)

At the time of publishing this, YES, you can get a passport in your correct name and gender.

Lambda Legal keeps an alert page with updates to the two lawsuits challenging the executive order banning appropriate gender identity markers on passports here.

Lambda Legal also maintains a travel safety guide and checklist:

Staying Safe and Prepared: Document and Travel Tips for Transgender, Nonbinary, Gender-Nonconforming, and Intersex Individuals

As of early July, the State Department was processing passports with M, F, or X markers for individuals who

• Do not have a valid passport.
• Have a valid passport, but it expires within one year and needs to be renewed.
• Need to change a passport so that the marker matches your gender identity or a name change.
• Or your current passport needs to be replaced due to loss, theft, or damage.

A4TE (Advocates for Trans Equality) also maintain a Know Your Rights: Passports center. It’s great, and we recommend reading it.

CAUTION ALERT FOR PEOPLE UPDATING PASSPORTS:

The State Department is keeping track of who is applying for updated passports. Supposedly, this is so that they can revoke and replace updated passports if the injunction is lifted and is no longer in effect. Requesting an updated passport will put you on a list.

From the article “Trans people can obtain accurate passports again. Here’s how” at 19thnews.org (more information is available at the article):

More background information on the passport ban executive order and court cases:

• ACLU press release on the June 17, 2025 expanded preliminary injunction stopping the passport ban from being enforced and requiring the State Department to issue passports.
• Urgent Action: Speak Out Against Passport Gender Policy Changes – MARCH 17th DEADLINE
• ACLU Urges Trans People Who Need Passport Updates to Apply “As Soon as Possible” (them)

What Do You Need To Do To Update Your Passport?

There are some extra steps to get an updated passport after the court order.

• Complete this form to say that the court ruling applies to you.
• Download and complete a passport application.
  • Form DS-82 (Renewal)
  • if your current passport is less than a year old, Form DS-5504

NOTE: If you want an M or an F on your passport, note it on the first form AND the application. If you want an X, select X on the form and leave the field blank on the application.

• You cannot use the Form Filler on the State Department website. You will need to print out your forms and submit by mail or in person.