State Department issues first gender ambiguous passport marked ‘X’

by mcardinal

Megan Udinski, FISM News

 

The U.S. Department of State announced yesterday they had issued their first passport with an “X” gender identification marking a change in its policy.

The X maker will be included by the State Department on all passports and Consular Reports of Birth Abroad (CRBAs) beginning sometime next year. The press release says that the change is to give a “marker for non-binary, intersex, and gender non-conforming persons.” 

In June, the State Department released a statement that they in conjunction with the Biden administration intended to “promote and protect the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons around the world.” Changing the process of gender identification on passports and CRBAs was their first step in this agenda push.

The major change is that those identifying as something other than how they appear, no longer need a physician’s note supporting the person’s claim to a different gender. The department recognizes that this change will be “technologically complex and will take time for extensive systems updates.”

In a press release on Oct. 26 celebrating Interesex Awareness Day, Ned Price, the department spokesperson, stated, “The Department supports the empowerment of movements and organizations advancing the human rights of intersex persons and the inclusion of intersex persons in the development of policies that impact their enjoyment of human rights.”

The United States is following in the footsteps of its northern neighbor, Canada, whose government started allowing “X” gender markings on their passports in 2019. Other countries that have already made the change to allow a third gender identifier on their passports without requiring validation from a physician include Denmark, New Zealand, Australia.

The news outlet, Not the Bee, sister to satire website the Babylon Bee, responded to this breaking news with incredulity.  The article points out this change to passports will only bring about increased confusion, stating, “…we can identify as whatever we want on the documents that are literally used to prove that we are who we say we are!” Not the Bee concludes their argument by asking: “After all, what if my gender fluctuates multiple times in a day? There needs to be an option for those who board a plane in Newark as a man and land in London as a woman. Anything else would be oppressive and intolerant to that person’s #truth.”

This might seem like an strong reaction to some, but for those who hold to a biblical worldview that gender is part of God’s purposeful design, to deny His design is to deny His craftsmanship and sovereignty. 

Coincidentally, not all who identify as nonbinary or transgender are thrilled with the generic “X” marker believing the government should provide even more designations, in order to encompass the seemingly never ending preferred gender identities. 

This new identification option is predicted to be fully available early in 2022 after system and form updates are completed. 

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