In the grand scheme of things, any individual story passes away quickly into irrelevance (if it ever even surfaces into the public eye), what with the constant stream of shocking and important events that in other times would get a headline. However, some stories, while less reported on, deserve more attention. We believe that one such story is that since soon after Trump took office, trans people haven’t been able to get passports or renew them. According to 19th News and Lambda Legal, since January 2025, passports with sex markers (and yes, it’s sex markers instead of gender markers, another non-progressive detail) that don’t match the obvious sex-assigned-at-birth haven’t been approved for renewals or first-time passports. However, if you already have a passport you obtained since you transitioned that hasn’t expired yet, you can still use it for flights, even with a sex marker that doesn’t conform to your sex-assigned-at-birth. Recently, a court order has forced the government to process passports with the applicant’s choice of a F, M, or X sex marker, but a higher court could overrule that decision, and if you apply for a passport now, you could get your name into databases and have more problems down the road or even have your passport revoked. So, transitioned people, including many students at this school, are faced with a hard choice: Get a passport renewal while you can, or only renew your passport if you absolutely have to to avoid other consequences. This especially applies to high school students because without a Real ID, usually a passport or a driver’s license, you can’t go on even domestic flights until after you’re eighteen.

As trans people struggle with a range of issues that make their civic existence difficult, this new roadblock is working to add more impediments ot trans existence, many observers are noting. Adam, a 10th grader here at PCS as well as the co-president of the Trans Non Binary Student Union, explained: “I think that’s part of the reason they did this…it’s just people trying to disadvantage trans people more, which is a big thing. Trans people are very disadvantaged at the moment. They’re definitely [portrayed] in the media negatively a lot and this is just another way to do that,” Adam recently renewed their passport and had this to say about the process and if it’s worth the risk: “I’m unsure if it’s been finalized, but I renewed my passport recently and it had sex instead of gender as one of the questions which is definitely something I noticed. I definitely think it’s worth it since you can’t really travel without one, even if it means you’re in some kind of database but overall I think it’s worth it.” 

Phin, one of the writers of this op-ed, is not medically transitioned but is working on the process of getting his drivers license and renewing his passport for traveling. His plan has always been to change the sex markers on his papers once he has medically transitioned, since having that ‘proof’ would definitely make it easier. However, this new executive order throws that out the window.

Trump’s executive order, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” forces government agencies to only recognize sex-assigned-at-birth under a facade of feminism. Targeting passports specifically is highly concerning because preventing escape is a key step in the playbook of crushing opponents and those you hold prejudice against. Even when the courts, which still hold some power and aren’t entirely polarized yet, are champions for our survival, the government can still collect data on who to target as people get necessities, like passports. It’s important for everyone to stay strong and support each other, especially those who are extra abused when we ourselves are privileged to be untargeted. We should write to congresspeople and do our civic duty to stay educated about current events. The writers of this op-ed recommend The Economist, The New York Times, and The Atlantic), and urge people to spread the word. (That could mean joining the school newspaper!)