When the Supreme Court let stand a ruling blocking transgender and nonbinary Americans from choosing their gender marker on U.S. passports, Columbia students like Felix felt blindsided. 

The sophomore fine arts major had just received his passport this summer, showing his correct name and gender. Now, he and other transgender students say the decision feels like a reversal of recognition — and a warning of what may come next.

“It’s just a spit in my face– like every trans person’s face,” Felix said. 

The Supreme Court’s decision, issued last week, effectively lets stand a lower court ruling that halts the State Department’s policy allowing Americans to select the “X” gender marker on passports. Under the enforcement, transgender and nonbinary people can keep their current passports until they expire, but new or renewed documents must list only “male” or “female.” The move has drawn sharp criticism from LGBTQ+ advocates, who say it undermines years of progress toward federal recognition of gender diversity.

After Felix’s passport expires, the ‘X’ sex marker will no longer be available as an option. 

The Chronicle is withholding the last names of students in this story because identifying details could endanger their safety in the current political climate.

At Columbia, the issue resonates deeply. According to Columbia’s Office of Institutional Effectiveness, 39% of students enrolled at the college in Fall 2024 identified as LGBTQ+ at entry, with 0.1% of students stating their legal sex as ‘X.’

For Milo, a sophomore creative writing major, seeing their assigned sex printed on their driver’s license is already upsetting.

“Something about it just being shoved in my face, it just makes me feel a little bit uncomfortable,” they said.

Now Milo, who identifies as nonbinary and is from Kentucky, will need to have their assigned sex on their passport, too, when they get it renewed.

River, another nonbinary student, said the decision feels like erasure.

“It feels like I’m being held back, and that I’m not being seen as nonbinary,” they said.

Beyond the personal impact, Felix is worried about whether transgender students will feel comfortable participating in  study abroad opportunities, especially if it’s to countries that are “not nonbinary and transgender friendly.”

This J-term students will travel to Rome, France, Japan and Argentina. 

Argentina recognizes non-binary gender and has no legal restrictions on changing gender. But the other countries have mixed records on transgender rights.

In Italy, transgender people can legally change their gender marker without surgery, but the country does not yet recognize nonbinary identities, and protections differ outside major cities like Rome. France allows gender changes without medical or surgical requirements and has broad anti-discrimination laws protecting gender identity, though reports of anti-LGBTQ+ violence have risen in recent years. Japan, meanwhile, remains more restrictive: transgender people still face significant legal and social barriers to recognition, though a 2023 court ruling struck down the country’s sterilization requirement for gender transition. 

On campus, students can choose their preferred names and pronouns in college systems — part of Columbia’s ongoing effort to support LGBTQ+ students. Still, some say more could be done to help them feel heard.

Milo said they’d like to see more spaces on campus where transgender students can speak freely about their experiences.

“I think one of the great things that I’ve seen colleges do and some of the events that I’ve been to is definitely, like, safe spaces,” they said.
 You can just show up, and if you need to talk, you can just talk.”

Matthew Eiler-Rillie, coordinator of education in the Office of Student Diversity and Inclusion, said the college aims to help students process what’s happening nationally.

“We cannot solve the problems in the world, particularly with our government, but we can help you make sense of it,” Eiler-Rillie said. “I think that’s absolutely our space. We’re very careful to not position ourselves as the solution to things.”

Copy edited with Vanessa Orozco