Why US State Department issued First Passport with an X Gender Marker?

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On Wednesday, the State Department released a statement that the United States has issued its first passport with an “X” gender designation. It is a milestone in the recognition of the rights of people who don’t identify as male or female. The advocacy organization GLAAD said on Wednesday that the passport was issued to Dana Zzyym (an intersex Colorado resident) who has been in a legal battle with the department since 2015. The US special diplomatic envoy for LGBTQ rights, Jessica Stern, called the moves historic and celebratory said they bring the government documents in line with the lived reality that there is a wider spectrum of human sex characteristics than is reflected in the previous 2 designations.

Stern said, “When a person obtains identity documents that reflect their true identity, they live with greater dignity and respect”. However, US State Department didn’t announce to whom the passport was issued and said it doesn’t usually discuss individual passport applications because of privacy concerns. But GLAAD announced that Zzyym was the recipient, heralding the decision as a victory for so many people who simply want to travel through the world as their authentic selves.

Zzyym issued a statement and said, “I almost burst into tears when I opened the envelope, pulled out my new passport, and saw the ‘X’ stamped boldly under ‘sex’. I’m also ecstatic that other intersex and nonbinary US citizens will soon be able to apply for passports with the correct gender marker. It took six years, but to have an accurate passport, one that doesn’t force me to identify as male or female but recognizes I am neither, is liberating”. Zzyym previously denied a passport for failing to check male or female on an application. The court documents have indicated that Zzyym wrote “intersex” above the boxes marked “M” and “F” and requested an “X” gender marker instead in a separate letter.

The court filing says Zzyym was born with ambiguous physical sexual characteristics but was raised as a boy and underwent several surgeries that failed to make Zzyym appear fully male. Zzyym served in the Navy as male but later came to identify as intersex while working and studying at Colorado State University. The department’s rejection of Zzyym’s passport prevented Zzyym from being able to travel to a meeting of Organization Intersex International in Mexico. The State Department now also allows applicants to self-select their gender as male or female, no longer requiring them to provide medical certification if their gender didn’t match that listed on their other identification documents.