The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in favor of President Donald Trump’s administration, allowing it to enforce a policy that prevents transgender and nonbinary people from selecting passport gender markers that align with their gender identity.

The justices granted the administration’s emergency request to block a policy introduced under President Joe Biden, which allowed applicants to self-select “male,” “female,” or “X” as their passport gender marker.

In an unsigned order, the court 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.”

The three liberal justices dissented. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, in her opinion, wrote:

“The Government seeks to enforce a questionably legal new policy immediately, but it offers no evidence that it will suffer any harm if it is temporarily enjoined from doing so, while the plaintiffs will be subject to imminent, concrete injury if the policy goes into effect.”

Since 1992, the State Department has allowed, in certain cases, applicants to select a gender marker not corresponding to their sex at birth. The Biden administration expanded that in 2021, introducing the “X” option and eliminating the need for medical proof of gender transition.

Attorney General Pam Bondi praised the decision, saying it affirms the belief that “there are two sexes,” adding that government attorneys “will continue fighting for that simple truth.”

Civil rights advocates condemned the ruling. Jon Davidson, a lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union representing transgender applicants, called it “a heartbreaking setback for the freedom of all people to be themselves.”

He added that the decision “adds fuel to the fire the Trump administration is stoking against transgender people and their constitutional rights.”