President Donald Trump’s recent executive order declaring that the U.S. recognizes “only two sexes, male and female,” will not impact passports issued before the start of his term to transgender and nonbinary people that have their preferred gender or “X” marker.

The White House told NOTUS that Monday’s executive order is not retroactive and does not invalidate old passports. However, if government-issued documents need to be renewed, they must reflect the person’s sex assigned at birth.

“They can still apply to renew their passport — they just have to use their God-given sex, which was decided at birth,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “Thanks to President Trump, it is now the official policy of the federal government that there are only two sexes — male and female.”

Trump’s order directs the departments of State and Homeland Security and the Office of Personnel Management to implement changes to “require that government-issued identification documents, including passports, visas, and Global Entry cards, accurately reflect the holder’s sex.”

It’s unclear when that will happen, given Secretary of State Marco Rubio is the only cabinet official who has been confirmed.

LGBTQ+ rights groups urged trans and nonbinary people to update documents like passports, Social Security cards, and driver’s licenses ahead of Trump’s return to the White House. While those documents remain valid, advocates expect lawsuits to challenge Monday’s order.

“Now we’re going to look at what they actually do and when people’s rights are actually affected, then there will be lawsuits,” said Jennifer Pizer, chief legal officer at Lambda Legal, a firm that supports LGBTQ+ rights.

Lambda Legal represented Dana Zzyym, an intersex and nonbinary veteran who challenged the State Department in 2017 for refusing to recognize their preferred gender marker. Zzyym argued that the “male” and “female” markers were inaccurate for intersex and nonbinary people. Ultimately, a federal court sided with Zzyym, and they became the first person with an “X” marker on their passport in 2021.

Read the full article about the Trump gender order by Oriana González at Them.