Bryant Francis, Senior EditorFebruary 10, 20253 Min ReadImage via Adobe Stock.At a GlanceAn anonymous game developer is among those who have joined a discrimination lawsuit against president Donald J. Trump.The ACLU-filed lawsuit targets the State Department's new anti-transgender passport policy regarding gender identifiers.The policy denies transgender, intersex, and nonbinary Americans the right to list their correct gender on their passports. An anonymous game developer going by the name "Sawyer Soe" has joined the ranks of those filing a lawsuit against President Donald Trump's administration, accusing it of discriminatory behavior for a new anti-trans passport policy issued on January 20, 2025.The lawsuitfiled by the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts on February 7argues that President Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the State Department made a "abrupt, discriminatory, and dangerous reversal" of existing passport policy. During the Biden administration, transgender, nonbinary, and intersex Americans were able to obtain passports that accurately reflected their gender identity.Under Trump, the Department ceased issuing passports for the "X" marker used by many nonbinary Americans, and will no longer allow individuals to change the gender on their passport after transitioning, requiring them to rely on documents that identify them by their sex assigned at birth.Soe's participation in the lawsuit spells out in plain terms how this change in policy puts transgender, nonbinary, and intersex game developers at risk."The Passport Policy is unlawful and unconstitutional," the ACLU said in its filing. "It discriminates against individuals based on their sex and, as to some, their transgender status. It is motivated by impermissible animus. It cannot be justified under any level of judicial scrutiny, and it wrongly seeks to erase the reality that transgender, intersex, and nonbinary people exist today as they always have."Related:Soe is one of seven plaintiffs represented by the ACLU in this case. They and plaintiff "Bella Boe" have filed for anonymity during the lawsuit's proceedings. The suit argues that Soe, a nonbinary developer working for "a company that is a leader in video game development," is among those harmed by the passport rule change.How? The suit states that Soe has not been able to accurately update their United States passport, which expired in 2019, shortly when they came out publicly as nonbinary. Soe's employer is apparently planning an "on-site collaboration" with their colleagues in Canada, and they will be "required" by their employer to travel internationally to Canada multiple times in the coming year."[Soe] would feel safer if they had an 'X' sex designation on their passport because it would be consistent with their identity, it would protect their privacy as it would prevent disclosure of their sex assigned at birth to strangers, and it would match the other identity documents that they currently carry," the filing continues. "Due to the Passport Policy, [Soe] will no longer be able to obtain an 'X' sex designation on their passport that accurately reflects who they are, how they express their identity, and how others perceive them."Sawyer Soe's struggle spotlights the risks of harm to transgender game developers under TrumpIn 2024, game developers publicly worried on multiple occasions that a return to office by President Trump could lead to harm to their professional community. Among the many concerns were those driven by "Project 2025," a Heritage Foundation-led initiative to set policy and pre-screen staffers for the new administration. The group recorded its goals in a widely-viewed document called "The Mandate for Leadership."The document does not make any statements on policy changes surrounding gender identity markers on passports. But as we noted last year, the document takes aim at transgender Americans, identifying "transgender ideology" as a form of pornography that has "no First Amendment protection."Former President-Elect Trump Transition Team chief counsel also argued in the document that the Department of Labor should "rescind regulations prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, transgender status, and sex characteristics."Soe's participation in the ACLU-filed suit spells out another instance of how Trump-led anti-trans policies might impact many game developers. As large studios and publishers stretch their operations around the globe, workers are being asked to travel internationally to work on or sometimes promote their games.At this moment, transgender, nonbinary, and intersex workers needing to update their passports can only engage in said travel if they acceptas the ACLU describes"terms that expose them to grievous harms and violate their constitutional rights to equal protection, travel, privacy, and speech."Read more about:Top StoriesCultureLaborAbout the AuthorBryant FrancisSenior Editor, GameDeveloper.comBryant Francis is a writer, journalist, and narrative designer based in Boston, MA. He currently writes for Game Developer, a leading B2B publication for the video game industry. His credits include Proxy Studios' upcoming 4X strategy game Zephon and Amplitude Studio's 2017 game Endless Space 2.See more from Bryant FrancisDaily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inboxStay UpdatedYou May Also Like