by Erin Guo
The United States has issued its first Gender “X” passport for people who don’t identify as male or female, marking a huge milestone in recognizing the rights of people with other identifications.
The Biden administration has promised the option of nonbinary, intersex, and gender-nonconforming categories in early 2022, and the State Department has also announced that it would start allowing applicants to select male or female as their gender without providing any medical proof.
These changes are part of President Joe Biden's LGBTQ+ agenda, which includes adding pronoun choices in the White House contact form, addressing workplace discrimination, and expanding transgender rights in the military.
The passport change came after a lawsuit filed by Dana Zzyym, who identifies as intersex and nonbinary, arguing that it was impossible to get a passport with an accurate gender marker because the options were either male or female. Zzyym received their new passport with the “X” option and is excited for future generations of intersex people to travel "as their authentic selves and possibly keep them safer doing it".
The US has become the 16th country to allow people to select non-binary or third gender on their passports following Argentina, Austria, Australia, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Malta, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, India, and Nepal.
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