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US passports to include ‘X’ gender marker beginning April 11
Americans who do not consider themselves male or female will soon have a new option on their passports.
Culture & Entertainment
WASHINGTON – Americans who do not consider themselves male or female will soon have a new option on their passports.
President Joe Biden on Thursday is announcing new measures aimed at making the federal government more inclusive for transgender people, including a new “X” gender marker on U.S. passport applications beginning on April 11 and new Transportation Security Administration scanners that are gender-neutral.
The official designation of the “X” marker is “unspecified or another gender identity.”
Visitors to the White House will soon also be able to select an “X” gender marker option in the White House Worker and Visitor Entry System, which is used to conduct screening background checks for visitors to the executive mansion.
“Transgender Americans continue to face discrimination, harassment, and barriers to opportunity,” Biden wrote in a proclamation marking Transgender Day of Visibility. “In the past year, hundreds of anti-transgender bills in States were proposed across America, most of them targeting transgender kids. The onslaught has continued this year. These bills are wrong.”