Transgender and nonbinary people are in a state of uncertainty due to a recent presidential order that limits gender identifiers on passports. Many people worry that they will no longer be able to travel, find housing, or access other necessities since their applications have been suspended and important documents are in government custody.
Proponents caution about wider ramifications for LGBTQ+ rights.
Patrick has been waiting for a response to his passport application for about two months. His is still in bureaucratic limbo, whereas his wife’s was received within a week. His birth certificate and a court ruling confirming his male identification are among the documents that are still in government custody.
It wears you out. I am dissatisfied. “I’m annoyed,” he murmured.
Many Americans who identify as transgender, nonbinary, or intersex are affected by this abrupt change in policy, including Patrick.
According to a recent executive decree, passports and other federal documents must only identify male and female as immutable.
The U.S. State Department has therefore stopped processing passports whose gender markers differ from the sex assigned to the applicant at birth.
For many people, their passport serves as their main form of identification in addition to being a travel document. It might be challenging to hire a car, make hotel reservations, or even get healthcare without it.
“This isn’t just about travel,” Mikaela, a transgender woman whose passport renewal has also been postponed, stated. “It affects every part of our lives.”
Activists caution that the regulation reverses hard-won LGBTQ+ rights and creates a risky precedent. Although legal challenges are anticipated, thousands of people are still in a state of limbo, with bureaucracy controlling their identities and futures.
