Comment on rule changing gender marker policy on U.S. passports (State Department)

On behalf of a coalition of local governments and local government leaders, Public Rights Project and Harris County, Texas, filed a comment opposing proposed changes to passport gender markers policies in March 2025. The U.S. State Department policies would eliminate options for transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people to change their gender marker to match their gender identity.

The coalition argues that the proposed changes attempt to define these individuals out of existence, causing adverse mental health impacts. The changes conflict with the majority of states’ policies allowing gender markers on identification documents to reflect the individual’s gender identity. At the local government level, the proposed changes will increase processing times and costs for Identification verification, affecting services from passport issuance to public health and housing.

The comment details how these changes violate the Paperwork Reduction Act. This act is designed to reduce the amount of paperwork burden that the federal government imposes on the public, including state, local, and tribal governments.