While the Trump administration chips away at trans and nonbinary rights from D.C., Puerto Rico just handed down a victory that says: You exist, and the law sees you.
On Monday, the island’s Supreme Court ruled that residents must be allowed to select “X” as their gender marker on birth certificates, affirming the rights of nonbinary and gender-nonconforming Puerto Ricans to be recognized as who they are—legally, publicly, and on their own terms.
The decision follows a lawsuit filed by six nonbinary plaintiffs, who argued that denying an “X” option violated their constitutional rights. The court agreed, citing the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
“It is the duty of the federal courts to intervene, to guarantee the equal protection of all persons under the law,” the ruling stated.
What Legal Recognition Looks Like—In Puerto Rico and Beyond
Since 2018, trans Puerto Ricans have been allowed to update their gender markers from male to female or vice versa. But until now, there was no recognition of identities that didn’t fit into the binary.
That changes with this ruling. The island now joins 17 U.S. states and D.C. in offering “X” markers on birth certificates. The decision requires Puerto Rico’s Demographic Registry to update its application process to include the option—something plaintiffs had explicitly demanded in their suit.
It’s more than a policy update. It’s the legal recognition that nonbinary people exist—and deserve equal protection under the law.
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A Win Against the Backdrop of National Erasure
Puerto Rico’s move comes just months after President Trump signed a sweeping executive order defining gender as strictly male or female, assigned at birth. Since then, the State Department has stopped issuing passports with “X” markers. The ACLU is now suing the administration, calling the rollback unconstitutional.
So yes—Puerto Rico’s ruling is local. But the ripple effects are national. Especially when the federal government is working overtime to make “X” disappear.
Pedro Julio Serrano, president of the LGBTQ+ Federation of Puerto Rico, called it a “historic decision for equality,” adding:
“In moments when nonbinary, gender-nonconforming, and trans communities are under attack, this opens the door to the full recognition of their dignity.”
“Esta decisión histórica abre la puerta al reconocimiento pleno de su dignidad”, dijo Pedro Julio Serrano. https://t.co/sirseKgyKp
— Metro_PR (@Metro_PR) June 2, 2025
Why This Win Feels Different
Legal victories for nonbinary people are rare enough. But this one hits harder because it’s happening in an unincorporated U.S. territory—a place often excluded from national conversations about rights, justice, and policy.
It’s also happening in a region where LGBTQ+ visibility is on the rise. Just last year, Daniela Arroyo González became the first trans woman to compete in Miss Universe Puerto Rico—a contest that, until 2012, banned trans women under rules co-signed by none other than Donald Trump.
Now, Puerto Rico is not only catching up—it’s pushing forward.
What Comes Next
Governor Jenniffer González Colón says she’s waiting on the Justice Department to weigh in on implementation. And so, as always, the burden shifts back to the people who have already done the work—the plaintiffs, the organizers, the communities who’ve had to prove their existence over and over just to get a checkbox.
This time, they’re not waiting to be seen. They’re waiting to be taken seriously.
Because the question was never whether nonbinary people exist. That answer is written into court rulings, protest signs, and lived realities. The real question now is whether governments—local, federal, and everything in between—will keep hiding behind paperwork, policy delays, and “pending guidance” to pretend otherwise.
Recognition is the first step. The next is accountability. And Puerto Rico just set the bar.
