Trans Americans accuse Trump of ‘travel ban’: ‘They will not give me any passport with any name’
TikTok user @GentleReality claims to have been refused a passport and threatened with arrest after complaining (TikTok/Getty)
The US State Department under Donald Trump has been accused of instigating what amounts to a travel ban after they suspended the processing of trans Americans’ passport applications.
The suspension follows an executive order signed by President Donald Trump last week, which mandated federal recognition of only two sexes: male and female.
The executive order also maintained that “these sexes are not changeable”, leading to government agencies being forced to apply the policy to all government-issued identification.
As such, passport applications where the applicant’s gender is different to their biological sex at birth have not been processed, raising concerns about their access to essential services.
Many transgender Americans are now fearful that, without a passport, they will not be able to leave the country and seek asylum elsewhere if they face increased discrimination within the United States.
Speaking to USA Today, the State Department said: “In line with that Order, the Department’s issuance of US passports will reflect the individual’s biological sex as defined in the Executive Order.”
Therefore, it has suspended the processing and issuing of all applications “seeking a different sex marker than that defined by the terms in the Executive Order.”
This includes anyone seeking to have a non-binary gender marker that simply reads “X”, a policy that was introduced in 2022.
Previously, applicants were able to self-select male, female, or the “X” gender markers when applying for a passport, removing the barrier for those whose birth certificates had not yet been reissued to show their correct gender identity.
It is estimated that fewer than 17,000 people use the X gender marker each year.
Advocates have called the executive order “cruel” and “lawless”, stating that it would “demonise, stigmatise, and discriminate against transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people” and would likely lead to increased harassment.
This is the latest in a long list of actions the President has taken since taking office for a second time to erode the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans. His executive order is expected to impact over two million Americans who identify as transgender or nonbinary as well as approximately 5.6 million residents who are born intersex.
One transgender woman told USA Today that this “isn’t about just simple holding people’s stuff up in transit” but is in fact about “targeting specific groups.”
Another trans person, who goes by the username @gentlereality on TikTok, has used her platform to speak out about the issue.
She called the new policies a “travel ban” in all but name.
“They will not call it an effective travel ban but that is the impact. They will not give me any passport with any name, gender, sex of any form. That is what we’re dealing with right now in the United States.”
After her video blew up and received over 800,000 views, she issued an update, saying: “The outpouring of love and advice has been overwhelming… I’m doing my best to sort through (the comments).”
She also said that her local congressman had reached out to offer support.
For many transgender people, a passport is a primary form of identification. Without one, they could be prevented from accessing essential services as well as removing the ability to travel out of a country where anti-trans rhetoric is running rife.
Additionally, when applying for a passport, applicants must send in important documents such as old passports or birth certificates to the State Department.
With the suspension, it is unclear whether those documents will be returned, which is likely to make life even more difficult for transgender Americans seeking to travel, change jobs, or rent a home.
How did this story make you feel?
