Last Updated on July 2, 2021 by Administrator
Written by Arshita Anand
On Wednesday, the US State Department issued a statement that it is working to add a gender marker to U.S. passports thus including nonbinary, intersex and gender non-conforming individuals.
Secretary Antony Blinken stated that their department would be working “to promoting the freedom, dignity, and equality of all people.” As of now, the passport applicants will be able to self-select their gender as either “M” or “F” and will not require medical certification if their selected gender does not match the gender listed on other identity documents such as a birth certificate.
“The technologically complex and will take time for extensive systems updates.” The Secretary stated on the process for adding a third gender marker. Currently, twenty U.S. states and the District of Columbia permit their citizens to enter either M, F, or X to mark their gender on their driver’s licenses. New York and Illinois have also passed laws that would make gender-neutral markers available in the coming years. One of Joe Biden’s campaign promises during U.S. presidential elections was that transgender and nonbinary persons should have the option to change their gender marker to F, M, or X on their government-issued documentation. This proposal by the U.S. State Department fulfills that.
