Americans will be allowed to apply for 'X gender' passports next month, State Department says
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- US citizens will be able to apply for "X gender" passports from April 11, the State Department said.
- It said the new option would benefit non-binary, intersex, and gender non-conforming people.
- The option is already on passports in countries including Canada, Australia, Argentina, and the Netherlands.
All US citizens will be able to apply for "X gender" passports from April 11, the US State Department announced on Thursday.
From April 11, "US citizens will be able to select an X as their gender marker on their US passport application, and the option will become available for other forms of documentation next year," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
Allowing people to select X as their gender means people do not have to identify as male or female in their application. Blinken said the step would benefit non-binary, intersex, and gender non-conforming people.
As Insider's Bryan Metzger previously reported, countries including Canada, Australia, Argentina, the Netherlands, and New Zealand already offer X gender passports.
Blinken said Thursday: "After thoughtful consideration of the research conducted and feedback from community members, we concluded that the definition of the X gender marker on State Department public forms will be 'Unspecified or another gender identity.'
"This definition is respectful of individuals' privacy while advancing inclusion."
The US issued its first X gender passport in October 2021, to a person who had sued the State Department over the issue in 2015. The department then said it would soon make the option more widely available.
Blinken first outlined plans to add the new gender marker in June 2021, describing it at the time as a step "toward ensuring the fair treatment of LGBTQI+ US citizens."