Trump Bans the 'X' Marker on Passports: 'Two Genders Only'
Skift Take
Key Points
- The U.S. will only recognize binary genders on federal documents following Trump's executive order.
- The change affects a small percentage of non-binary U.S. citizens who previously used the 'X' gender marker.
- The order is part of a series of actions in Trump's first 100 days, including potential travel bans.
Summary
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order mandating that U.S. federal documents, such as passports, recognize only the binary genders of male and female, reversing the 2022 policy that allowed 'X' as a gender marker. This change impacts a small portion of the non-binary population and is unlikely to significantly affect the travel industry, although it may have implications for international visitors. The order is part of a broader set of actions during Trump's early days in office, which includes potential travel bans targeting specific countries.
Trump’s Impact on Travel
Read how the first 100 days of U.S. President Donald Trump’s actions and policies are shaping the future of travel, and get insights into the industry's evolving response.The U.S. will only recognize people's sexes as assigned at birth on passports and other federal-issued documents following an executive order signed Monday by President Donald Trump.
Since 2022, U.S. citizens have been able to select “X” as their gender marker on passports, visas, and Global Entry cards.
“As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female,” Trump said during his inaugural address Monday.
Several other countries, including Denmark, Malta, Australia, Canada, Germany, India, and New Zealand, offer a non-binary gender marker for identification purposes.
The order, called “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” requires that the term "sex" be used, rather than "gender." It says identification must be described as "an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female."
Limited Impact
The order, which was criticized by Human Rights Campaign, is unlikely to have a major impact on the travel industry.
The Williams Institute at UCLA’s School of Law estimated that only about 16,700 non-binary LGBTQ+ people may request passports with X gender markers per year.
That represents just 1.4% of the U.S. nonbinary population, which the think tank estimates is approximately 1.2 million U.S. adults.
Some non-binary and transgender people had already been reluctant to use the ‘X’ gender marker, because of fears of discrimination when traveling, or difficulty booking tickets to fly with various airlines.
It was not immediately clear what impact Trump's decision on gender identification might have on foreign visitation to the U.S., such as travelers interested in attending the World Pride 2025 sporting event that Washington, D.C., will host in May.
Trump's First 100 Days
The executive order about passports and other official documents (such as applications for citizenship) was one of a blizzard of executive orders.
Another was a potential reinstatement of the travel ban that targeted majority Muslim countries during Trump’s last presidency.
Skift will cover how Trump's actions in his first 100 days in office might impact travel.
In survey before the election, Skift asked travel leaders what they thought Trump's impact on the sector would be. About two out of three respondents expressed neutral to positive sentiments.
Photo Credit: U.S. Passport image by Nicole Geri Unsplash / Nicole Geri
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