There’s a lot of heat — and very little light — surrounding the Supreme Court’s recent decision allowing President Trump’s administration to enforce a policy requiring passports to reflect a person’s biological sex, not self-identified gender. Predictably, the talking heads went into overdrive, accusing the Court and the administration of cruelty, discrimination, and “erasing” transgender and nonbinary people.

But here’s the thing: passports are not personal diaries. They’re legal documents. Their purpose is to record objective facts, not internal feelings.

Truth Matters Even When It’s Uncomfortable

As Christians, we believe truth isn’t something you feel. It’s something you discover. Scripture puts it plainly: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). That means genuine freedom — spiritual or social — comes from aligning ourselves with truth, not reshaping truth to match our emotions.

Biological sex is a matter of science and creation, not social fashion. You can change your clothes, your hairstyle, or even your name, but you cannot rewrite the chromosomes God knit together in your mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13). Male and female are not political constructs; they’re part of God’s design. “Male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27).

Why This Matters for Passports

A passport is a legal document that identifies you to the world. It includes your name, date of birth, country of citizenship, and — yes — your sex. Each of those details must be factual and verifiable. Border agents don’t need to know how you feel about yourself on a given day; they need to know who you actually are.

Listing biological sex isn’t a moral judgment. It’s a matter of accuracy. Imagine if we allowed self-selected details across the board: someone could list “5’10” on their driver’s license even if they’re 5’2” or claim to be 30 when they’re 45. Facts would lose all meaning. That may sound silly, but it’s the same logic being applied when we let “self-identification” override biology.

Truth With Compassion

Of course, none of this gives anyone permission to be cruel or dismissive. Christians are called to speak “the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). Many people struggling with gender identity are genuinely hurting, and they deserve kindness and respect. But compassion isn’t the same thing as capitulation.

You can love someone without agreeing with them. You can show empathy without denying reality. Real compassion helps people face truth, not hide from it.

The Role of Government

Government’s role is to preserve order and truth in the public sphere. If official documents start reflecting how people feel rather than what’s true, then government itself becomes an enabler of confusion. That’s dangerous not only for policy but for human dignity. Truth anchors compassion. Without truth, compassion becomes chaos.

In the End

The Supreme Court’s move isn’t an attack on anyone. It’s a defense of reality. It’s saying, in essence, “A passport is a record of fact.” Feelings can be respected in other ways, but government identification isn’t the place for them.

Truth must come before feelings, always. Because when we build society on feelings, everything shifts with the wind. But when we build on truth, we stand on solid rock.

As the Psalmist wrote, “Thy word is truth from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever” (Psalm 119:160). Truth endures. And in a world where everything else changes, that’s good news.