US State Department reverses plan to invalidate trans passports after ‘X’ gender marker confusion
Its website has been revised again to confirm that all passports “remain valid for travel until their expiration date"
By Callum Wells
The US State Department has reversed a policy that would have invalidated passports for trans people whose gender markers did not align with their “biological sex”.
The policy change was first noticed less than a week ago, when the State Department’s website initially stated it would no longer issue passports or other travel documents with a gender-neutral “X” marker or any marker that did not match a person’s sex assigned at birth.
Transitics reporter Aleksandra first flagged the update on 13 November. Since then, the website has been revised again to confirm that all passports “remain valid for travel until their expiration date”.
“All passports will remain valid for travel until their expiration date, under International Civil Aviation Organization policy” – The State Department’s updated FAQ
“X” gender markers were introduced in US passports in 2022, allowing travellers to select a non-binary option. The State Department’s updated FAQ now explicitly notes: “All passports will remain valid for travel until their expiration date, under International Civil Aviation Organization policy.”
Previously, the FAQ had stated: “A passport is valid for travel until its date of expiration, until you replace it, or until we invalidate it under federal regulations.”
The rollback follows a Supreme Court ruling allowing the government to enforce former President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting changes to gender markers on official documents. The ruling overturned a preliminary injunction on the order, which dissenting justice Ketanji Brown Jackson called a “pointless but painful perversion”.
US airlines were previously instructed to ignore “X” markers on passports
Aleksandra suggested the State Department’s reversal could be related to the “intensive labour” required to implement the original policy, noting it would have “heavily burden[ed] itself both logistically and financially.”
The White House has not issued a statement regarding the apparent reversal.
In October, prior to the Supreme Court ruling, US airlines had been instructed to ignore “X” markers on passports under Customs and Border Protection guidance. At the time, the administration said previously issued passports would remain valid, but any renewed government-issued ID would need to reflect the holder’s sex at birth.