US State Department issues 1st passport with ‘X’ gender marker
Oct 27, 2021, 12:59 PM | Updated: 1:02 pm
MIAMI - JUNE 22: A Passport Processing employee uses a stack of blank passports to print a new one at the Miami Passport Agency June 22, 2007 in Miami, Florida. The Bush administration postponed for at least six months a requirement that Americans who return to the United States by land or sea from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean must carry passports. The rule, due to go into effect in January 2008, will be delayed until the summer of that year. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
(CNN) — The State Department has issued the first US passport with an “X” gender marker as it seeks to implement gender-inclusive polices, the department announced Wednesday.
The department announced in June it would update its procedures to allow applicants to self-select their sex marker for passports and that it “will no longer require medical certification” if an applicant’s self-selected sex marker doesn’t match the sex listed on other official identity documents.
“As the Secretary announced in June, the Department is moving towards adding an X gender marker for non-binary, intersex, and gender non-conforming persons applying for a U.S. passport or CRBA,” State spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement. “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.”
The option with the new marker will be offered to routine passport applicants after the department finishes system and form updates in early 2022, Price also said.
Transgender rights activists have long said having inaccurate IDs could potentially lead to harassment and discrimination for members of the LGBTQ community.
In a statement recognizing Intersex Awareness Day, the State Department said Monday it was US policy to end “violence and discrimination on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and sex characteristics.”
The US joins Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other countries with similar gender-inclusive passport policies.
At least 20 states and Washington, DC, have also implemented similar changes to state documentation, including New Jersey, which enacted the change in April after delaying it last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
This story has been updated with additional information.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.
