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

DENVER (AP) — The United States has issued its first passport with an “X” gender designation, marking a milestone in the recognition of the rights of people who do not identify as male or female, and expects to be able to offer the option more broadly next year, the State Department said Wednesday.

The department did not identify the passport recipient, but an intersex person from Colorado who has been in a legal battle with the government since 2015 to get a passport said one was received. A department official, citing privacy rules, declined to confirm whether the passport went to Dana Zzyym (pronounced Zimm).

Zzyym said the fight for the passport with an accurate gender designation was a way to help the next generation of intersex people win recognition as full citizens with rights.

The U.S. special diplomatic envoy for LGBTQ rights, Jessica Stern, said the decision brings the government documents in line with the “lived reality” that there is a wider spectrum of human sex characteristics than is reflected in the previous two designations.

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