First US Passport Issued with ‘X’ Gender Marker

The United States has issued its first passport with an ‘X’ gender marker, acknowledging the rights of people who do not identify as male or female, the State Department wrote in a recent press release.

The department said in a statement that it would expand the gender-neutral option to all applicants next year after it updates its policies on passports and US citizenship certificates for children born abroad. It said it was working with other government agencies to ‘ensure as smooth a travel experience as possible for all passport holders, regardless of their gender identity.’

A department spokeswoman declined to identify the recipient of the passport, citing privacy considerations. Lambda Legal, a national civil rights organization, tweeted that the passport had been issued to Dana Zzyym, a military veteran who is intersex.

In 2015, Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit in US District Court in Colorado against the State Department after Mx Zzyym was denied a gender-neutral passport. Mx Zzyym’s original birth certificate identified them as male, and their driving licence listed them as female, according to court documents.

The court ruled in favour of Mx Zzyym in 2016, but Lambda Legal said in a statement that it asked a federal court to reopen the case because the State Department continued to ‘refuse to recognise a gender marker that is neither ‘M’ (male) nor ‘F’ (female).’

In 2018, a judge again found that the State Department had violated the law, and last year the Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Colorado sent the case back to the lower court, Paul Castillo, a Lambda Legal lawyer working with Mx Zzyym, said in an interview.

‘I anticipate the administrative end of wrapping up the lawsuit should be forthcoming,’ Mr Castillo said.

The Biden administration announced a new rule in June that created a gender marker on passports and citizenship certificates for people who are nonbinary, intersex, or do not conform to gender roles.

The previous policy for changing a gender marker on a passport required medical certification to be included with the application, which was available only to those who had transitioned from one gender to another. That application is no longer required.

Several other countries: including Canada, Australia, Argentina, Nepal and New Zealand – have adopted similar policies. About 20 US states and the District of Columbia allow an ‘X’ gender designation on driving licences.