You cannot apply for a U.S. passport with this marker; here's what it is and what travellers need to know

Travellers should be aware that the U.S. State Department suspends passport applications using this marker due to a gender-related executive order. In response to President Donald Trump's executive order establishing government policy to only recognize male and female sex in the nation, the State Department has halted processing passport applications from applicants who chose "X" as their gender.

What does the executive order mean for travellers?

According to NBC News, Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered the State Department last week to halt all pending passport applications that asked to modify their sex marker or select the gender option "X."

The action comes after Trump issued an executive order directing officials to implement changes to require that government-issued identification documents, including passports, visas, and Global Entry cards, accurately reflect the holder’s sex and making it the official policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female.


Rubio then sent out a memo, which NBC News examined, stating that the policy of the United States is that an individual's sex is not changeable and that the word ‘sex' and not 'gender' shall be used in agency documents.

The network reported that in addition to passports, the State Department announced that it will no longer provide birth certificates with the "X" gender designation for American citizens whose children were born overseas.

The validity of passports that have already been issued and have "X" selected under the gender option was not immediately apparent. Updates will be posted on the State Department's travel website as soon as possible, a spokesperson told NBC.

Besides "male" and "female," the State Department has long provided the option of "X" under gender. Similar to this, in 2022 the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) added a new gender option to its well-liked TSA PreCheck application, enabling travellers to choose "another gender" in addition to "male" or "female."

Although it has been removed, a Google search result still shows a TSA website with information about applying for TSA PreCheck with a non-binary gender option.

FAQs

Why has the State Department stopped processing applications containing the "X" gender marker?
The suspension follows an executive order requiring U.S. government documents to recognize only male and female sexes in accordance with updated federal policies.

Will previously issued passports with the "X" mark remain valid?
It is unclear whether existing passports bearing the "X" symbol will remain valid. Travelers should check the State Department's website for updates.