The story told here--one where anecdata suggests agency and autonomy have run amok and nameless activists are to blame--certainly rhymes with the NYT's disastrous panic about trans kids. Then you realize it's literally being written by the same author.

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Attorney Barbara Schwabauer explains her decision to leave the Justice Department's Office of Civil Rights rather than comply with a Trump administration order to subpoena the medical records of transgender teens

Anyone who applies for a new, corrected, or replacement passport, or for a passport renewal, is at risk of having their passport issued bearing the sex they were assigned at birth. President Trump's anti-trans passport policy is now in effect, but our lawsuit challenging it isn't over yet.

'If the government can enforce rules based on the 'historical fact' of our sex assigned at birth without offending equal protection principles, then what does that mean for the conditions of our lives in the present?" @chasestrangio.bsky.social

The Supreme Court this week allowed the State Department to enforce President Trump's anti-trans passport policy while our lawsuit challenging his executive order moves through the courts. We'll keep this page updated as our legal experts learn more.

The law, in its majestic equality.

The story of this week is that millions of Americans were told in 2024 their lives would be improved if trans people's lives were made worse and I'm glad they're finally waking up to the fact that was never true to begin with--but trans people's lives are still getting worse

This fight isn't over. Our case challenging President Trump's executive order will still move forward. In the meantime anyone who applies for a new, corrected, or replacement passport, or for a passport renewal, is at risk of having their passport issued bearing the sex they were assigned at birth.

BREAKING: The Supreme Court granted the Trump administration's request to enforce its discriminatory passport policy while our lawsuit makes its way through the courts. This decision undermines the freedom of transgender, non-binary, and intersex people to have our IDs reflect who we are.

This sentence ranks right up there with language from Bowers and Plessy for combining cruelty and callousness.

I have watched as so-called "compromise" positions on transgender people's rights have failed over and over--in statehouses, the Biden White House, and in liberal rhetoric. There is no middle ground acceptable to the politicians, activists, and billionaires obsessed with trans people and our lives.

BREAKING: We're asking the Supreme Court to reject the Trump administration's attempt to revive its discriminatory passport policy. Lower courts were right when they stopped the the State Department from denying transgender, non-binary, and intersex people accurate identification.

Hear from state constitution super-users @erings.bsky.social, Celina Stewart (@lwvus.bsky.social), @harperseldin.bsky.social (@aclu.org), and Julia Olson (@youthvgov.bsky.social), as they demonstrate how dynamic learning about state constitutions can be in their SXSW EDU Featured Session.

Wrote about The Heritage Foundation's plan to weaponize the FBI against transgender people's existence, which includes banning me from saying that's what they're doing

Transgender people are owed a retraction and apology from @wsj.com. The lie has already become canon to millions and it seems the least they could do.

Good news

Despite today’s outrageous ruling, we all have the right to go about our daily lives free from racial profiling by the federal government. We will never stop fighting for our civil liberties and our immigrant communities.

Too often, trans men are left out of the conversations that we have. I set out to answer "why?" Thank you to Rae Timberlake with SPARTA Pride, @harperseldin.bsky.social of the @aclu.org, and Jamison Green for talking to me for this piece.

This from Riley Gaines is why trans people freak out when Democrats try to carve out some compromise over sports. The politicians and activists attacking trans people are not interested in compromise! They're interested in our eradication from public life and are exploiting sports to that end

Subpoenas made public this week show the government is demanding doctors turn over a wide range of sensitive, identifiable data about its trans patients — everything from social security numbers to Zoom records, notes, addresses, "everything written or recorded." Our story: wapo.st/4lAnkRy

A fishing expedition designed to terrorize these providers and these families. The subpeonas could be (and likely are) baseless and lawless, but what DOJ wants is to frighten hospital boards enough to drop these patients altogether

It is an incredible testament to our strength that in the face of a relentless political onslaught designed to push transgender people from public life, more and more of us are finding the courage to be ourselves. Every living trans person is a Republican policy failure.

Taking photos and video of law enforcement officers performing their duties in public is our constitutional right. This includes police, FBI, National Guard troops, ICE agents, and other government officials.

A story designed to break my heart specifically: "The Phelans ran the only bookstore in Vermillion, South Dakota. They sold it and moved after a new law would have required their daughter to use a boy’s bathroom."

The Skrmetti decision "leaves the courts free to continue to apply closer-look review to most transgender rights contexts" but also provides cover to "refuse to see sex or gender identify classifications," @katieeyer.bsky.social of @law.rutgers.edu argues. www.theregreview.org/2025/07/14/e...

Our pressure worked: The State Department has finally issued guidance for how individuals can proceed after a federal judge blocked President Trump's anti-trans passport policy. If you or your loved ones are affected by this policy, we're here with more information.

I'm sure the parents of trans kids will take great comfort knowing we can't say if a ban on their health care will kill their child--their child will merely wish they were dead

BREAKING: We're filing a new class-action lawsuit to challenge President Trump's lawsuit restricting birthright citizenship. The 14th Amendment is clear: Every child born on U.S. soil is a citizen, whether the president likes it or not.

The position of the Supreme Court's majority is that the state may impose its will on transgender people's private medical decisions but our public existence is an unfair imposition on the lives of others

Under the ruling, the birthright citizenship order remains blocked nationwide for at least 30 days. We will use every tool at our disposal to prevent any child from being denied citizenship under this unconstitutional policy.

It’s telling how the Christian right’s role in getting Skrmetti to SCOTUS is being erased—and by those seemingly desperate to blame trans people for asking for “too much.” So I spoke with legal historian @kredburn.bsky.social and ACLU attorney @chasestrangio.bsky.social, who argued the case:

Our experts have your questions about this case answered, and we will update this page as we learn more.

NEW: We're asking a federal court to force the Trump administration to comply with a court order requiring them to issue passports to transgender people that reflect their gender identity. We've heard from trans people across the country that the State Department is willfully ignoring this order.

As a brutal heat wave overtakes much of the country, almost every single state lacks universal air conditioning in their prisons, where temperatures can exceed 120 degrees. This isn’t an issue of comfort or luxury — it's an issue of life or death for many incarcerated people.

Last week, a court ordered the Trump administration to allow all trans people to update their passports with the gender marker that's right for them. Learn more about how and when to apply.

Six takeaways from Skrmetti are circulating widely. All six contain errors: 1. The first takeaway quotes a law professor suggesting that a loss in Skrmetti will make other trans rights cases harder. In fact the opinion is narrow.

We're currently urging the government to issue guidance on how they'll comply with the court order that trans and intersex people must receive accurate passports. We urge you to hold off on seeking to obtain a new passport for now. We'll provide more guidance as soon as possible.

"If one thing gives me hope, it’s my daughter. Even after all the emotions of today, L.W. has been texting me all day about her plans for how to continue the fight for young people like her." We'll keep fighting with Samantha, her daughter, and trans youth across the country for the care they need.

The law in its infinite wisdom bans trans and cis people alike from being trans

Reading that piece you would think the bans were mountains that had always been there and advocates just mindlessly started an avalanche that buried us, when in truth we were dragged into an asymmetrical war overnight. The first ban in 2021 was so unthinkable it was vetoed by a Republican governor.

Seemingly lost in all of the NYT coverage is that what the Supreme Court did was effectively lower the evidentiary bar that state's have to meet to justify their bans. The lower courts that applied heightened scrutiny universally blocked the bans.

The article frames Skrmetti as a poor strategic gamble by activists. In reality, Tennessee passed a categorical ban applicable solely to transgender adolescents which was framed in sex-based terms. The choices were (a) challenge it or (b) concede defeat in advance and abandon trans teens nationwide.

I have spent my life fighting for justice alongside brilliant lawyers, organizers, activists and artists. And I am not stopping now or ever.

We're leaning on each other today, and we'll be here for each other in the days to come.

We now know the answers to these questions! The Court did NOT resolve the standard of scrutiny for discrimination against trans people. Its decision to apply rational basis review was limited to medical context, limited to minors, and limited to contexts w/o evidence of other animus.

The Fourth, Seventh, Ninth and Tenth Circuits have all held (in contexts other than medical care) that discrim against trans people gets heightened scrutiny. Skrmetti leaves those circuit precedents intact.

Even Alito thinks the majority’s argument that the law doesn’t discriminate based on trans status is bullshit.

BREAKING: A federal judge ruled all transgender and intersex people can obtain passports that align with their gender identity while the case against President Trump's executive order proceeds. While this is good news, we will continue fighting until this executive order is blocked permanently.