Diplomatic envoy for LGBTQ rights said it’s a matter of ‘dignity and respect’
The White House is lit in pride colors in Washington DC in 2015. Photograph: Molly Riley/AFP/Getty Images
The Guardian Wed 27 Oct 2021 10.43 EDT
The US has issued its first passport with an “X” gender designation – a milestone in the recognition of the rights of people who don’t identify as male or female – and expects to be able to offer the option more broadly next year, the state department said on Wednesday.
The US special diplomatic envoy for LGBTQ rights, Jessica Stern, called the moves historic and celebratory, saying they brought 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 two designations.
“When a person obtains identity documents that reflect their true identity, they live with greater dignity and respect,” Stern said.
The department did not announce to whom the passport was issued. A department official declined to say whether it was for Dana Zzyym, an intersex Colorado resident who has been in a legal battle with the department since 2015, saying the department does not usually discuss individual passport applications because of privacy concerns.
Zzyym (pronounced Zimm) was denied a passport for failing to check male or female on an application. According to court documents, Zzyym wrote “intersex” above the boxes marked “M” and “F” and requested an “X” gender marker instead in a separate letter.
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, according to court filings.
Zzyym served in the navy as a male but later came to identify as intersex while working and studying at Colorado State University. The department’s denial of Zzyym’s passport prevented Zzyym from traveling to a meeting of Organization Intersex International in Mexico.
The state department announced in June that it was moving toward adding a third gender marker for non-binary, intersex and gender-nonconforming people but said it would take time.
A department official said the full passport application and system update with the “X” designation option still need to be approved by the Office of Management and Budget.
The department now also allows applicants to self-select their gender, no longer requiring medical certification if their gender did not match that listed on their other identification documents.
The United States joins a handful of countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Nepal and Canada, in allowing its citizens to designate a gender other than male or female on their passports.