Skip to content

Secretary of State Marco Rubio bans passports with ‘X’ gender markers after Trump order: report

A person begins the process of filling out a passport application with an X gender marker, at their home in Alexandria, Virginia, on April 11, 2022. - It's just a small extra box to tick on an application form, but a huge breakthrough for a non-binary person who on Monday became one of the first Americans to apply for a gender-neutral passport. The option to receive a passport with an "X" gender designation, which was made available Monday by Joe Biden's administration, was hailed as a blessing for an estimated 1.2 million transgender Americans. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP) (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

State Department staff were informed of the change in an internal cable sent Thursday mandating “sex, and not gender, shall be used” in official documents like passports and birth records in US embassies and consulates abroad, the Guardian reported.

Staff were specifically instructed to “suspend any application requesting an X sex marker” and to “suspend any application where the applicant is seeking to change their sex marker.”

Passports already issued will not be recalled, but applicants will not be able to choose the “X” designation when renewing their travel documents.

Rubio’s cable added that “guidance on existing passports containing an X sex marker will come via other channels.”

Trump’s order stated that “sexes are not changeable” and that the term only refers “to an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female. “

“‘Sex’ is not a synonym for and does not include the concept of ‘gender identity,’” it also read.

Under former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, passports with the “X” gender marker, which Blinken said would include “unspecified or another gender identity,” were rolled out on April 11, 2022.

“The Department is setting a precedent as the first federal government agency to offer the X gender marker on an identity document,” Blinken said in March of that year, hailing the move as a “milestone” in efforts to “better serve all US citizens, regardless of their gender identity.”

Non-binary, intersex and other gender non-conforming Americans were able afterward to use the marker — or change their existing status — without providing further documentation.

Other agencies like US Citizenship and Immigration Services also offered “X” options for gender-nonconforming Americans.

Reps for the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Today's News.
For Conservatives.
Every Single Day.

News Opt-in
(Optional) By checking this box you are opting in to receive news notifications from News Rollup. Text HELP for help, STOP to end. Message & data rates may apply. Message frequency varies. Privacy Policy & Terms: textsinfo.com/PP
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.