Passports may soon include a new option for gender identity

Passports, social security cards, residence permits and other federal identification documents may soon offer a third gender option: X. Already, at least a dozen states and Washington, D.C., have amended their laws to offer an X gender designation on some identifying documents, including driver’s licenses and birth certificates. But federal rules have not changed much since 2010, when the current policy for changing one’s sex marker on a passport was implemented. That application has always required medical certification and is only available for those who have transitioned from one gender to another; the State Department, which issues passports, asks applicants to select either male or female. President Biden has promised to change that, and the American Civil Liberties Union is pushing him to take action soon. The organization has been talking with White House officials about adding a gender neutral option to all federal identification documents and records, and allowing people to affirm their own gender without a court order or medical certificate. <br/>