US passport applicants can soon choose ‘X’ as gender option

• Starting April 11, Americans who don’t identify as male or female can choose “X” as a gender option when applying for a passport.
• Applicants can choose the option despite the gender specified on their birth certificate or other legal documents.
• The Transportation Security Authority (TSA) will also allow an “X” gender option for TSA pre-check and lessen pat-downs at checkpoints.

U.S. passport applicants who don’t identify as male or female can choose “X” as a gender option starting April 11, the State Department announced on International Transgender Day of Visibility.

The State Department’s principal deputy assistant secretary for consular affairs, Douglass Benning, said, “We’re setting a precedent as the first US federal government agency to offer the ‘X’ gender marker on an identity document.”

The option will be available for all applicants despite their stated gender on their birth certificate or other legal documents.

According to a CBS News report, the State Department consulted with other countries that made a similar implementation. These include Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.

Jessica Stern, U.S. Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI+) Persons, stressed the importance of the provision, saying, “Human beings do not always fit within a male or female category around the world… there is a wider spectrum of humanity than is represented by a binary sex designation on passports.”

Starting in 2023, the “X” gender option could also be allowed in other legal documents, such as passport cards and expedited and consular reports of birth abroad. 

The Transportation Security Authority (TSA) will also implement more gender-neutral procedures, such as an “X” gender option for TSA pre-check and fewer pat-downs at checkpoints.

The TSA aims to “touch less and rely on the technology,” said Jose Bonilla, executive director of traveler engagement at the TSA’s Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. The agency received $18.6 million in added appropriations to test the new technology.

The new implementations were announced as the Biden administration continues to promote gender inclusivity.

Source: FOX News