Donald Trump signed several executive orders following his return to the White House, including one titled “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” Among its significant changes, the order reinforces the recognition of only two genders—male and female—and directs that “sex, not gender,” be used on official documents like passports.
The Biden administration had previously allowed non-binary individuals to use ‘X’ as a gender marker on passports. Jessica Stern had called this move a “momentous step” toward gender diversity. However, Trump’s new directive has frozen X marker passport applications. Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized that “an individual’s sex is not changeable” and instructed staff to suspend related applications.
While existing passports with the X marker remain valid, future updates or applications for such passports will face hurdles. Non-binary individuals could encounter significant challenges under these new policies.
