US issues first gender-neutral ‘X’ passport
The United States has issued its first gender-neutral passport.
The official document features an “X” gender designation.
Dana Zzyym, of Fort Collins, Colorado, told the Associated Press it was their passport and they have been in a battle with the government over the issue since 2015.
Dana Zzyym prefers a gender-neutral pronoun. Pic: AP
Zzyym, who prefers a gender-neutral pronoun, said it was thrilling to finally get the passport but the fight for a passport with an accurate gender designation was a way to help the next generation of intersex people win recognition as full citizens with rights.
“I’m not a problem. I’m a human being. That’s the point,” the 63-year-old said.
The US special diplomatic envoy for LGBTQ rights, Jessica Stern, said the decision brings passports in line with the “lived reality” that there is a wider spectrum of human sex characteristics than the previous two designations reflected.
“When a person obtains identity documents that reflect their true identity, they live with greater dignity and respect,” Ms Stern said.
Zzyym was previously denied a passport after failing to check male or female on an application.
According to court documents, they wrote “intersex” above the boxes marked “M” and “F” and requested an “X” instead in a separate letter.
Zzyymm was born with ambiguous physical sexual characteristics. They were raised as a boy and had several surgeries that failed to make them appear fully male, according to court filings.
They served as a male in the Navy but later identified as intersex while working and studying at Colorado State University.
The State Department’s denial of their passport prevented them from travelling to a meeting of Organisation Intersex International in Mexico.
In June, the department said it was moving towards adding a third gender marker for non-binary, intersex and gender-nonconforming people. But it said the move would take time because of required updates to its computer systems.
Applicants will also now be able to self-select their gender as male or female, meaning they will no longer be required to provide medical certification if their gender did not match that listed on other identification documents.
“We see this as a way of affirming and uplifting the human rights of trans and intersex and gender-nonconforming and nonbinary people everywhere,” Ms Stern said.
Anti-Trump protests took place across America on Saturday, with demonstrators decrying the administration’s immigration crackdown and mass firings at government agencies.
Events ranged from small local marches to a rally in front of the White House and a demonstration at a Massachusetts commemoration of the start of the Revolutionary War 250 years ago.
Thomas Bassford, 80, was at the battle reenactment with his two grandsons, as well as his partner and daughter.
He said: “This is a very perilous time in America for liberty. I wanted the boys to learn about the origins of this country and that sometimes we have to fight for freedom.”
At events across the country, people carried banners with slogans including “Trump fascist regime must go now!”, “No fear, no hate, no ICE in our state,” and “Fight fiercely, Harvard, fight,” referencing the university’s recent refusal to hand over much of its control to the government.
Some signs name-checked Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadorian citizen living in Maryland, who the Justice Department admits was mistakenly deported to his home country.
Read more: Donald Trump’s deportations explained
Pic: AP
People waved US flags, some of them held upside down to signal distress. In San Francisco, hundreds of people spelt out “Impeach & Remove” on a beach, also with an inverted US flag.
People walked through downtown Anchorage in Alaska with handmade signs listing reasons why they were demonstrating, including one that read: “No sign is BIG enough to list ALL of the reasons I’m here!”
Pic: AP
Protests also took place outside Tesla car dealerships against the role Elon Musk ahas played in downsizing the federal government as de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The protests come just two weeks after similar nationwide demonstrations.
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Organisers are opposing what they call Mr Trump’s civil rights violations and constitutional violations, including efforts to deport scores of immigrants and to scale back the federal government by firing thousands of government workers and effectively shuttering entire agencies.
The Trump administration, among other things, has moved to shutter Social Security Administration field offices, cut funding for government health programs and scale back protections for transgender people.
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