Non-binary Americans will finally be able to apply for gender-neutral passports

Non-binary Americans will finally be able to apply for a gender-neutral passport later this month.

In a March 31 announcement, the Biden administration said that a third gender option will be available on U.S. passport applications beginning on April 11. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the U.S. government will roll out “X” markers on “other forms of documentation next year,” and that the changes are intended to be “respectful of individuals’ privacy while advancing inclusion.”

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas added that the White House “is committed to protecting the traveling public while ensuring that everyone, regardless of gender identity, is treated with respect.”

The announcement was timed to the Trans Day of Visibility, but the gender marker updates on U.S. passports have long been expected. In June, the Biden administration announced that it would move forward with the introduction of an “X” marker on passports as the result of a 2015 lawsuit brought by Dana Zzyym, an intersex person who was unable to leave the U.S. because their documentation didn’t match their gender identity.

After a federal judge ruled in Zzyym’s favour in 2018, they were issued the first gender-neutral passport in U.S. history last October. At the time, the White House did not announce when the option would be made available to others.

LGBTQ2S+ advocacy groups in the U.S. cheered this week’s news. Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, executive director for the National Center for Trans Equality (NCTE), said in a press release that the organization “has been working tirelessly on these reforms since our organization was founded nearly 20 years ago.”

“These critical improvements in federal policy by the Biden administration will make the lives of transgender people better,” Heng-Lehtinen said.

Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, predicted that the reforms would “make it safer for transgender, non-binary, and intersex members of our community to travel and to walk through everyday life.” Trans travellers whose passports do not match their gender presentation regularly face invasive questions as a result, including targeted screenings and pat downs.

“Everyone deserves the right to have identity documents that reflect who they are, and to go through airport security without facing harassment and public humiliation,” Ellis said in a statement. 

Along with changes to gender recognition on U.S. passports, the Biden administration also announced a number of other changes intended to ease the burden on trans travellers. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said it will begin using gender-neutral body scanners that will no longer flag trans bodies as “anomalies” based on a binary classification of what the human form should look like.

“By replacing the current, gender-based system, this new, more accurate technology will also advance civil rights and improve the customer experience of travelers who previously have been required to undergo additional screening due to alarms in sensitive areas,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement.

Additional changes unveiled by the Biden administration included allowing White House guests to mark their gender as “X” in its Worker and Visitor Entry System, which conducts background checks on visitors. The U.S. government said it will also invest $10 million in researching the expansion of questions related to sexual orientation and gender identity on federal surveys and that it plans to launch a website with resources for trans youth and their families.

At least 15 countries already allow non-binary people to list a third gender marker on federal documentation, including passports. According to Newsweek, these nations include Argentina, Australia, Colombia, Germany, Iceland, India and Pakistan. Canada has permitted passport applicants to list their gender as “X” since 2019.

In joining these countries, U.S. President Joe Biden said that his administration hopes to recognize that trans and non-binary people “continue to face discrimination, harassment, and barriers to opportunity.” In a proclamation recognizing the Trans Day of Visibility, he condemned the “hundreds of anti-transgender bills” proposed in states across the U.S. this year, the majority of which target trans youth.

“Efforts to criminalise supportive medical care for transgender kids, to ban transgender children from playing sports, and to outlaw discussing LGBTQI+ people in schools undermine their humanity and corrode our nation’s values,” he said in a statement. “Studies have shown that these political attacks are damaging to the mental health and well-being of transgender youth, putting children and their families at greater risk of bullying and discrimination.”

Biden became the first sitting U.S. president to recognize the Trans Day of Visibility in 2021, the first year of his term. The annual observance recognizes the vibrance and resilience of the global trans community in the face of ongoing threats to its survival.