WASHINGTON — U.S. State Department workers reviewing the passport applications of transgender people have been ordered to automatically categorize them as male or female based on evidence of their “biological sex at birth.”
U.S. consular workers were ordered to disregard requests by transgender people and other gender non-conforming applicants to identify themselves on their passports with the “X” gender marker or with a sex other than what was assigned at birth, according to a Feb. 8 memo signed by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and seen by Bloomberg News.
Instead of honoring the “X” gender, government workers themselves should determine the sex of a transgender applicant as male or female based on “all available evidence establishing biological sex at birth,” and then note that determination on the person’s application for their passport, the State Department memo states.
The State Department couldn’t be reached for comment.
Some transgender, nonbinary and intersex people have reported issues receiving their passports in recent weeks. Since late January, Representative Nancy Pelosi has received “many” phone calls from trans people who have struggled to update their identification after President Donald Trump signed an executive order stating the US government would only recognize two sexes, according to The San Francisco Standard.
The “X” marker was established by Joe Biden’s administration in 2021 to recognize people who identify as nonbinary, intersex and gender non-conforming in federal documents. Few countries globally provide that option. There’s an estimated 1.6 million nonbinary people in the U.S., 16,700 of which who may request passports with an “X” gender marker each year, according to the Williams Institute, which researches gender identity issues.
Trump has since rolled back Biden’s efforts, directing that the “X” marker be removed from all government-issued documentation in an executive order that says the federal government now recognizes only two sexes — male and female — and declaring that they cannot be changed.
Trump’s order is being contested in the courts. Seven people filed a federal lawsuit challenging the State Department’s refusal to issue passports that reflect the gender they identify as and “X” for those who don’t identify as male or female. The American Civil Liberties Union, which has filed the suit on behalf of the plaintiffs, also said that it has been contacted by over 1,500 transgender people or family members, many who’s passport applications have been suspended.
The guidance from the State Department is the latest example of how federal agencies and their workers are trying to make sense of Trump’s campaign against what he has dubbed “radical gender ideology.” He’s sought to stop funding hospitals or medical schools that provide gender-affirming care to patients younger than 19, prevent transgender people from serving in the military and ban transgender girls from playing in female sports.
In the memo, Rubio instructed State Department workers to suspend the application of a transgender person if there isn’t enough evidence to establish a biological sex at birth. In those instances, the memo said, the applicant should be required to submit documentation indicating their biological sex at birth.
“Conflicting information and relevant Department databases should be carefully reviewed in order to best determine the applicant’s biological sex at birth,” the memo goes on to note. “Issuance dates of vital records and/or amendments are important indicators to consider.”
