Marking a significant milestone, the United States has issued its first passport with an “X” gender designation, which denotes that someone is neither exclusively male nor female. With this move, the US joins countries like Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Nepal, and India in providing the option of specifying a non-binary gender on passports. According to the State Department, the option would be available early 2022 for both passports and birth certificates. 

The push for legal recognition of a third gender via the US passport stems from the legal battle of Dana Zzyym, an intersex and non-binary activist from Colorado. Since 2015, Zzyym, who prefers a gender-neutral pronoun, has been struggling to obtain a passport that didn’t require Zzyym to pick either male or female. After a lengthy legal process, Zzyym became the first recipient of the X-labelled passport in the US. While it was well and truly thrilling for Zzyym, 63, the goal was to help the next generation of intersex and non-binary people win recognition. Before this, those who wanted to mark their gender on their passport differently from their birth certificate were required to obtain medical certification. Now, medical certification is no longer required if their gender does not align with what is written on other identification documents.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price was quoted as saying, “I want to reiterate, on the occasion of this passport issuance, the Department of State's commitment to promoting the freedom, dignity, and equality of all people—including LGBTQI+ persons.” Jessica Stern, US special diplomatic envoy for LGBTQIA+ rights, said the move was “historic and celebratory,” noting that this decision brings government travel documents in line with the “lived reality” that there is a wider spectrum of human sex characteristics than is reflected in binary designations. “When a person obtains identity documents that reflect their true identity, they live with greater dignity and respect.”

The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU, praised the move as well. “Today is a milestone for the United States as the State Department issues the first passport with an ‘X’ designation, and we are so glad that soon all transgender, intersex, and non-binary people will be able to access an accurate marker on their passport. The ACLU will continue to work with the Biden administration so that accurate gender markers are available on IDs and records across the federal government,” the group said in a statement.