The U.S. passport on the move. (Photo by Levi Ventura on Unsplash)

State Department Stops Issuing Gender Neutral Passports

The U.S. passport on the move. (Photo by Levi Ventura on Unsplash)
 
 

Selecting a neutral “X” in place of “male” or “female” on a passport application will no longer be an option under new rules handed down by the Trump administration.

As part of Trump’s broader purge of any government activity perceived to be supportive of non-binary gender identity, the U.S. State Department announced that it would stop processing passport applications with “X” selected for gender. The policy aligns with Trump’s declaration in an executive order that his administration only recognizes “two sexes, male and female.”

“In line with that order, the department’s issuance of U.S. passports will reflect the individual’s biological sex as defined in the executive order,” a State Department spokesperson told CNN.

U.S. Citizen Passport Applicants to Expect Delays, Denials

The spokesperson said that the department will stop issuing new X-gender passports and will soon announce policy changes regarding gender-neutral passports that have already been issued. Non-binary, intersex and gender non-conforming individuals have been able to select X as their gender on passports since April 2022, an accommodation offered by the Biden administration.

“We recommend that future travelers applying for a passport now select M or F as the US Department of State removed reference to X on their website,” the Global Affairs program at the University of California at Davis advised travelers. “Those who have already submitted a passport application and selected X may experience delays. Those with X passports may experience travel disruption as the U.S. Department of State navigates the implementation of this executive order, and there may be validity issues with X passports.”

The Executive Order, issued Jan. 20 and titled, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” directs federal agencies to the use of the word “sex” in place of “gender” and requires that government-issued identification documents, including passports, visas and Global Entry cards, accurately reflect the holder’s “sex.”

The administration’s directive that the term “sex” reflects “an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female” is a political statement and is not reflective of scientific fact. Some people, for example, are born with both male and female sex organs, and the term “intersex” is used to cover a broad spectrum of individuals who “have genitals, chromosomes or reproductive organs that don’t fit into a male/female sex binary,” according to the Cleveland Clinic.