US Tells Airlines To Disregard Third Gender Marker On Passports

US Customs and Border Protection have implemented a rule for the airlines to disregard the third gender marker “X” on passports and instead input an “M” or “F” marker.

According to The Guardian, “X” markers became available to US passport holders in 2022, in an effort to allow people with gender identities other than male and female to obtain more accurate travel documents.

Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump-led administration tried to ban the “X” marker under executive order 14168, titled Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.

In June, the US district court of Massachusetts had issued an order in June that passports with “X” markers would be considered as valid travel

documents.

Following the implementation of the new Customs and Border Protection rule, Andy Izenson, senior legal director at the Chosen Family Law Center, said: “It’s a little bit too soon to say how this is going to practically work out.”

The Guardian quoted him as saying that it’s questionable whether it will be up to individual agents whether they choose to flag “X” gender markers on passports that are different from the “F” and “M” markers that airlines will now be required to input, or whether the rule could prevent travellers with “X” markers from boarding international flights.

A CBP spokesperson said: “Foreign travellers with authorised and valid US travel documents are being processed as they were previously. New or renewing Trusted Traveller Program applicants are now required to choose one of the two approved designations, male or female, to complete the application. An applicant’s choice of sex is not criteria for an applicant’s admission into the US.”

The Guardian quoted Dr July Pilowsky, a scientist and US citizen currently residing in Spain who uses he/they/she pronouns, as saying that the new rule is already disrupting their life.

“What CBP officers do when you show them your document [passport] at the border, is they look at the sex marker on your document. And based on what that sex marker says, they decide what you’re supposed to look like and what your body is supposed to be like,” he said.

Andy Izenson said: “They are trying to throw us into a state of reactivity so that we’re not able to focus on practical advocacy and the material needs of our communities. The more they can keep us confused and freaked out and not sure what’s going on, the more they can do whatever they want.”