Week one in office, Trump signed an executive order declaring it official policy of the U.S. government to recognize only two sexes, male and female, period the end, sex was โnot changeable.โ Keep reading to learn how his executive order impacts gender x passports for Americans.
Trump’s executive order requires that federal documents like passports, visas, and Global Entry cards, operate using the binary definition of sex outlined in the order.
The State Department has suspended processing passport applications requesting an โXโ gender marker. If your application for gender x passports is pending, I’m sorry to say you’ll receive a passport with an M or F sex marker instead.
If you’re a US citizen who already has an x gender passport, the State Department says guidance is โcoming soon.โ
This move raises a lot of questionsโand concerns.
Will current gender X passport holders be grandfathered in, proving the lie of binary gender every time nonbinary travelers pass through airports?
Will a nonbinary traveler have their passport seized by TSA, stranding them while en route to a nonbinary inclusive race?
Will they have to turn in their US passport so it can be replaced with binary gender documentation?
And what if the LGBTQ friendly state where they live legally allows third-gender identification, so now their driver’s license and their passport don’t match?
It’s too early to say.
Which states are the most nonbinary friendly? Check out this list of inclusive states.
But we can look at what’s happened in states that have U-turned away from recognizing variant genders and doubled down on the gender binary.
Like Florida.
Floridaโs Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles decided that “misrepresenting one’s gender” constituted fraud and announced they would no longer allow Florida residents to change the gender marker on their license.
A transgender woman who’d done so had her driverโs license canceled.
Texas and Kansas have implemented similar measures.
It’s straightforward for one state agency, like a DMV, to police the gender binary and revoke documentation from nonconformists and trans folks.
It’s a larger, more complex issue to get the federal government to do much of anything efficiently, especially when Trump is in the mix.
How Many Americans Have Nonbinary Passports?
Americans have been able to apply for gender X passports since 2021, when the Biden administration changed federal policy to support gender expansive identities.
The Williams Institute estimates that around 16,700 nonbinary Americans โ or 1.4% of Americans who identify as nonbinary โ may request an x gender marker on their passport per year. They reviewed data on x marker driver’s licenses to come up with their estimate. If their estimates held up, as many as 66,800 Americans could be affected by the policy switch.
A majority of the nonbinary community still has a passport that says M or F.
I’m one of those people.
I renewed my passport in 2020, the year before third gender passports were an option.
When the State Department first rolled out the X gender marker for passports, I was thrilled. It felt like progressโfinally, official recognition for those of us who donโt fit neatly into the โmaleโ or โfemaleโ biological classification.
But then I learned that not every country would accept these passports.
Imagine flying halfway across the world only to be turned away at the border! Or having to put a dream vacation on hold, indefinitely, all because that country’s government did not legally recognize your documentation!
Suddenly, I felt relieved that the option hadnโt been available when I last renewed my passport.
I don’t experience dysphoria when referred to by she/her pronouns, or when I see the F marker on my passport.
But many nonbinary people do experience dysphoria when their official document don’t align with their experience of their gender.
Even if the x gender passport wasn’t right for me, I was glad it existed for the folks who truly needed it for their mental wellbeing.
These are the people most impacted by the Trump executive order.
What Should I Do if I Currently Have A Gender X Passport?
Details on implementation are murky, the stakes are high, and for now, it’s a waiting game.
Legal challenges to these anti-transgender policies are mounting. It’s possible that those with X markers on their passports will be able to continue to use them, incident free, while these challenges wind their way through court.
But we don’t know.
And while passports are primarily used for international travel, non-binary Americans in 21 states plus Washington DC can get X gender driver’s licenses.
Traveling domestically with one of these may bring extra scrutiny. From TSA officers. From local cops in red states if we’re unlucky enough to be pulled over while on a road trip. From anyone we have to hand our documentation to, in any state that doesn’t believe in our right to exist.
Perhaps I’m being paranoid. I hope so!
But traveling while trans, nonbinary, or gender nonconforming is already fraught with anxiety.
Or, since Trump insists we call it โsexโ instead of โgender,โ let’s say sex nonconforming?
Policies like this add one more layer of stress to an already exhausting experience.
They encourage us to stay home and hide our light.
And in doing that we lose out on all kinds of amazing experiences.
My heart aches for folks who have an X gender passport and are now caught in the middle of Trump’s petty agenda.
Because it is petty. And, to use one of his favorite words, it’s sad to see powerful men close their eyes and declaring, โIf I donโt like it, it doesnโt exist.โ
Executive orders like this to the contrary, Trump and his cronies can’t magic us out of existence. We’re still here, we’re still queer, and we travel often.
Pissing the LGBT community off costs red states money, while passing LGBT-friendly policies is a money maker โ the data shows this time and again.
Even if we have to compartmentalize in order to move through a world that wants to pretend we don’t exist.
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