Key points
- US consular workers are ordered to disregard requests by transgender people
- Government workers to determine the sex of a transgender applicant as male or female
- There are around 1.6 million non-binary people in the US
ISLAMABAD: United States (US) State Department workers who review the passport applications of transgender people have been asked to directly classify them as male or female according to evidence of their “biological sex at birth.”
Moreover, US consular officials were ordered to ignore requests by transgender people and other gender non-conforming individuals to mention themselves on their passports with the “X” gender marker or with a sex other than what was assigned at birth, according to a February 8 memo which was signed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to Bloomberg.
Despite honouring the “X” gender, government officials must determine the sex of a transgender applicant as male or female based on “all available evidence establishing biological sex at birth,” and then note that category on the person’s application for their passport, the State Department memo states.
Reporting issues
As a result, some transgender, non-binary, and intersex people have submitted problems while receiving their passports.
Nancy Pelosi has received “many” phone calls from trans people who have faced difficulties in updating their identification after President Donald Trump signed an executive order that stated the US government would only accept two sexes, according to The San Francisco Standard.
Joe Biden’s administration established the “X” marker in 2021 to recognise people who identify as non-binary, intersex, and gender non-conforming in federal documents, according to Bloomberg.
Globally, few countries give that option. There are around 1.6 million non-binary people in the US, 16,700 of which who may request passports with an “X” gender marker each year, according to the Williams Institute, which researches gender identity issues.
Reversing Biden’s efforts
Trump has reversed Biden’s efforts, ordering that the “X” marker be eradicated from all government-issued documentation in an executive order that says the federal government now accepts only two sexes — male and female — and stating that they cannot be changed.
However, Trump’s order has been challenged in the courts. Seven people filed a federal lawsuit challenging the State Department’s denial to give passports that show the gender they identify as an “X” for those who do not identify as male or female.
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed the suit on behalf of the plaintiffs. It also said that it has been approached by over 1,500 transgender people, many of whose passport applications have been suspended.
Trump’s campaign
The instruction from the State Department is the recent example of how federal agencies and their officials are trying to interpret Trump’s campaign against what he has labelled “radical gender ideology.”
He has also sought to halt funding hospitals or medical schools that give gender-affirming care to patients younger than 19, stop transgender people from serving in the military, and ban transgender girls from participating in female sports.
