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Option X will be available in the future, however, another change is for applicants to “select” their binary genre.
The U.S. Department of State is in the process of offering a third gender mark – “X” to Americans who do not identify themselves as male or female in U.S. passports, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Wednesday.
In a statement, Blinken said that under the new rules immediately in effect, passport applicants will be allowed to “self-select” their gender, “M” or “F,” without the need for a medical certificate if it does not match the other documentation issued.
Blinken said the third gender brand is an opportunity to promote the freedom, dignity and equality of all people except “X” – “M” or “F”, LGBTQ + people.
“The department has started adding a gender marker for non-binary, intersex and non-gender compliant people who require a passport or CRBA (Consular Reports of Birth Atroad),” Blinken continued, explaining that the process of adding gender markers is “technologically complex” and said his that the department is “evaluating the best approach to achieve that goal”.
Today we are taking important steps to ensure fair treatment of LGBTQI + US citizens. https://t.co/tfNnTUQmsp
– Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) June 30, 2021
Blinken has not indicated when the new gender brand will be available.
The State Department website says, “We can’t give a specific time when we’ll start offering gender markers to people who are binary, intersex, and non-gendered.”
Blinken’s announcement comes on the last day of Pride Month and is being celebrated by the LGBTQ + community, who have argued that the usual choices for men and women are to distinguish between binary and intersex people.
Lambda’s legal counsel Paul Castillo tweeted that the news “comes a long time” for his group’s client “Dana Zzyym, an intersex and veteran U.S. Navy veteran.” litigation six years ago “to get an accurate passport.”
Today’s news from the state department has long come from a large number of LGBTQI + Americans, among others @LambdaLegal Client Dana Zzyym, an intersex and binary veteran of the U.S. Navy, filed her case in 2015 to obtain an accurate passport. https://t.co/EWMSOzzR0j
– Paul D. Castillo (@PaulCastilloJD) June 30, 2021
The United States will join other countries, including Canada, Australia, Germany and passports that offer the “X” option in India. The move comes after a New York state announcement last week said it will make a gender mark available on driver’s licenses and identification cards, including several other states and places that support “X” in official documentation.
The administration of US President Joe Biden has changed the way Donald Trump views LGBTQ + rights and began his presidency in January the reverse Trump’s military ban on transgender people and the resumption of the tradition of officially recognizing that June is Pride Month. Trump only once acknowledged his four years in office, in 2019.
Last week, Biden marked Pride Month at the White House and Pulse Nightclub was named a national memorial. Fifty-nine were killed in a massive shooting at a 2016 nightclub.
Also listed is the first LGBTQ + Cabinet Secretary confirmed by the Biden administration: Pete Buttigieg, Secretary of Transportation.
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