A 22-year-old transgender influencer is taking legal action against former President Donald Trump’s administration, claiming her rights were violated when her U.S. passport was issued with the incorrect gender marker.
Zaya Perysian, a popular social media figure based in California, sued the federal government after receiving her updated passport in January marked with an “M” for male, even though she identifies and lives as a woman. She had applied for an expedited change to reflect her female gender but received the document shortly after Trump returned to office and signed a controversial executive order on gender identity.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Boston with support from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), includes six other transgender and non-binary plaintiffs. They argue that the administration’s policy is unconstitutional and unfairly targets transgender Americans.
Trump’s executive order, signed on his first day back in office, directs the federal government to recognize only two biological sexes—male and female. It also instructs the State Department to issue passports based strictly on what it considers biological sex, rather than gender identity.
“This is something that has been forced upon me,” Perysian said in an interview. “It’s really unfair and kind of crazy, but that’s why we’re fighting it.”
The U.S. State Department declined to comment on the case, and the Department of Justice, which is defending the policy, has not responded publicly. However, government lawyers argue the policy does not discriminate unlawfully, does not prevent anyone from traveling, and is important to uphold what Trump’s executive order describes as “longstanding legal rights and values.”
Perysian, who has lived as a transgender woman since 2020, has undergone surgical procedures and changed other official documents, like her driver’s license, to reflect her identity. But when she submitted her passport update request on January 23, her application was processed under the new Trump-era policy. Within a week, her passport was returned, labeled male.
“I’m a woman,” she said. “I live every day as a woman. I surround myself with people who see me and respect me as a woman.”
The ACLU argues that forcing transgender people to carry identification that doesn’t match their gender identity not only disrespects their existence but can also put them at risk, especially when traveling internationally.
“This executive order made it impossible for transgender, non-binary, and intersex Americans to have accurate federal identity documents,” said Sruti Swaminathan, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs.
Lawyers for the group say the new policy reverses more than 30 years of U.S. State Department practices that allowed people to update the sex designation on their passports.
In 2022, President Joe Biden’s administration expanded those options by allowing applicants to choose “X” as a neutral gender marker, in addition to selecting “M” or “F” based on self-identification. The Trump administration eliminated that option, citing a need for uniformity across federal agencies.
During a court hearing in March, U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick, who was appointed by President Biden, expressed doubts about the government’s arguments. “It seems to deny that gender identity is something worth recognizing,” she said during the proceedings. A ruling is still pending.
For now, Perysian and the other plaintiffs are waiting for a decision that could have lasting impacts on how the U.S. government recognizes and respects the identities of transgender, non-binary, and intersex individuals.
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