United States issues its 1st passport with ‘X’ gender marker

The United States has issued its first gender neutral passport with an 'X' designated under the gender category, making it one of just over a dozen countries to identify intersex individuals.

According to a report from the Associated Press, the move is an important milestone towards the recognition of the rights of those who do not identify as either male or female.

“Intersex, nonbinary, and transgender people need identity documents that accurately reflect who we are, and having mismatched documents can create problems with safety and visibility,” said Mary Emily O’Hara of GLAAD, the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization.

The US State Department did not identify the passport recipient, but Dana Zzyym (pronounced Zimm), an intersex activist from Fort Collins, Colorado, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that 'they' received it.

“I’m not a problem. I’m a human being. That’s the point,” said Zzyym, who has an arm tattoo that reads, “Never give up,” a reminder of goals to accomplish in life.

Zzyym was born with ambiguous physical sexual characteristics but was raised as a boy and had several surgeries that failed to make Zzyym appear fully male, according to court filings. Zzyym served in the Navy as a male but later came to identify as intersex while working and studying at Colorado State University. The State Department’s denial of Zzyym’s passport prevented Zzyym from being able to go to two Organization Intersex International meetings.

The State Department said in June that it was moving toward adding a third gender marker for nonbinary, intersex and gender-nonconforming people but that would take time because of required updates to its computer systems. 

However, the department already allows passport applicants to self-select their gender as male or female, no longer requiring them to provide medical certification if their gender did not match that listed on their other identification documents.

According to Jessica Stern, U.S. special diplomatic envoy for LGBTQ rights, “We see this as a way of affirming and uplifting the human rights of trans and intersex and gender-nonconforming and nonbinary people everywhere".