Harry S Truman State Department building. (Photo in public domain, form Library of Congress)
Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced March 31 passports with an “X” gender marker will be available starting April 11.
Blinken last June announced the State Department will allow passport applicants to “self-select their gender as M or F.”
Dana Zzyym, an intersex U.S. Navy veteran who identifies as nonbinary, in 2015 filed a federal lawsuit against the State Department after it denied their application for a passport with an “X” gender marker. Zzyym last October received the first gender-neutral American passport.
“The Department of State has reached another milestone in our work to better serve all U.S. citizens, regardless of their gender identity,” said Blinken in a statement. ”In June, I announced that U.S. passport applicants could self-select their gender and were no longer required to submit any medical documentation, even if their selected gender differed from their other citizenship or identity documents.”
He added “Starting on April 11, U.S. citizens will be able to select an ‘X’ as their gender marker on their U.S. passport application, and the option will become available for other forms of documentation next year.”
