The United States of America issued its first passport with X gender designation on Wednesday.
This move of adding a third gender marker for non-binary, intersex and gender-nonconforming people was announced in June.
The US state department had also mentioned that the reforms would take time to implement. As it requires extensive updates to its computer systems.
After the first passport with X gender designation, the department said that it expects to be able to offer the option more broadly next year.
This passport application and system update of the X gender designation option still needs approval from the Office of Management and Budget.
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US X gender passport
Now, the department also allows applicants to self-select their gender as male or female. It no longer requires them to provide medical certification if their gender did not match that listed on their other identification documents.
With this, the US has joined the list of countries that allow its citizens to designate an X gender, other than male or female on their passports. Some of these countries are Australia, New Zealand, Nepal and Canada.
This X gender passport development is being seen as a watershed moment for LGBTQ rights movements worldwide. Indeed, a historic move that will bring the government documents in line with the reality that one just cannot ignore.
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