Trump administration bans Americans from using gender 'X' on passports
Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered the State Department to freeze all applications for passports labeling their gender as 'X,' in the latest attempt to reverse government options for individuals who consider themselves gender-fluid.
'The policy of the United States is that an individual's sex is not changeable,' an email from the Secretary of State to department staff on Thursday, first reported by the Guardian.
Rubio insisted that a person's 'sex' and not 'gender' should be used in official government documents, including passports and consular reports of brith abroad documents.
The X distinction for gender was recently developed during President Joe Biden's administration under Secretary of State Tony Blinken.
President Donald Trump's executive order signed Monday that the order would not invalidate existing passports but would need to be corrected when they were renewed.
Trump's order also affects Department of Homeland Security and the Office of Personnel Management to correct official government documents to remove any extra gender assignments.
That could affect Social Security cards, drivers licenses, and other government IDs.
The White House dismissed concerns from transgender activists that had made gains during the Biden administration to update government documents to reflect a person's gender of their choice.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered a ban on Americans selecting X as their gender on U.S. Passports
A international traveler presents a U.S. passport
'They can still apply to renew their passport — they just have to use their God-given sex, which was decided at birth,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said to NOTUS. 'Thanks to President Trump, it is now the official policy of the federal government that there are only two sexes — male and female.'
Under the Biden administration, U.S. citizens were given the option of selecting (X) as their gender marker on passports, visas, and Global Entry cards.
The State Department website included guidance for people who wanted to identify as another 'gender identity' such as (X). By Thursday, that page redirected to the main passport request site.
Trump made the issue of gender part of his campaign, arguing that it fell into the realm of common sense.
'As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female,' Trump said during his inaugural address on Monday.
The Human Rights campaign, an organization dedicated to defending the rights of transgender individuals to choose their gender vowed to fight Trump's agenda.
'The incoming administration is trying to divide our communities in the hope that we forget what makes us strong. But we refuse to back down or be intimidated,' they wrote in a statement. 'We are not going anywhere. and we will fight back against these harmful provisions with everything we’ve got.'
The first ever gender 'X' passport was given by the Biden state department to veteran Dana Zzyym in 2021, who served in the Navy as a young man before identifying as 'intersex' using they/them pronouns.
This is the United States' first ever intersex passport, given to Navy veteran Dana Zzym
The inaugural intersex passport was for Dana Zzyym, a 63-year-old intersex activist and military vet who has been locked in a legal battle with the State Department for more than six years, petitioning for a shift in policy to allow intersex passports. Zzyym was denied such a document in 2015
Zzyym sued the state department in 2015, petitioning for a shift in policy.
The Biden administration praised the decision as a more inclusive way to handle government documents.
'I want to reiterate, on the occasion of this passport issuance, the Department of State's commitment to promoting the freedom, dignity, and equality of all people – including LGBTQI+ persons,' State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement at the time.
