travel

Man, woman or... X: U.S. rolls out gender-neutral passports

13 Comments
By Ulysse BELLIER

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Advance research is important and time saving whenever traveling abroad; and anyone thinking about the X gender designation on passport / visa should pause a moment and take into account those countries which do not have plans to recognize same; and may open oneself to unfortunate and unwelcome scrutiny by those country's customs officials, border guards, and interior security ministry personnel, who may not necessarily share the worldview that enabled you to have this feature.

10 ( +11 / -1 )

I can understand why people would want this on their passport, but passports aren't about how the USgovt treats you. They are about how you will be treated by other countries.

Do you really want to stand out as different when entering countries that are hostile towards "different" people? I wouldn't. That X says "deviant" in those countries. Many have laws against same-sex relationships that can lead to jail or worse.

Early adopters often pay the price for their excitement to be special. Be safe. Travel safe.

14 ( +15 / -1 )

Agree with the first 2 comments about international travel, your opening yourselves up for grief upon arrival in some countries. Also why use X? X is always considered a negative and in maths X is always the unknown factor.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

No such thing as gender neutral.

7 ( +12 / -5 )

Good for them if they think this is going to help their identity crisis its their choice.

Probably just cause them even more grief , difficulties and embarrassment when they try to travel to countries that don't recognize the same gender rules as USA.

Can you imagine having to prove your gender by an examination while being detained and ruining your travel itinerary.

At least we know who the gender confused are and tracking with the chip inside the passport.

-5 ( +2 / -7 )

Good luck travelling to the Middle East to attend a Gay Pride rally

1 ( +5 / -4 )

I applaud the move but why "X"? Why not put "prefer not to disclose"? "X" has so many negative connotations and can lead to potential issues when traveling internationally.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Michael MachidaToday  08:29 am JST

No such thing as gender neutral.

Absolutely right. This is all a load of perverted claptrap, you are either Male or Female, no X or ? is necessary. Some of these people are going to get a nasty shock somewhere along the line when travelling. For example: does any country have an equivalent choice of X on their immigration entry forms? I am sure that one or more of these people will be deliberately putting themselves in such a situation for YouTube or TikTok.

1 ( +6 / -5 )

Agree with other posters, this whole gender neutral thing is misguided. You are born a biological male or female. What does it matter if you don't identify as either, or your sexuality? Your identity is made up of many things. You don't need all other aspects of your identity stamped on a passport.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

"Why X?"

Actually the X designation has been for quite some time part of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a UN agency responsible for setting standard specifications for passports including machine-readable fields and microchips.

Yes, concerns remain whether the X would function as a proverbial scarlet letter. I doubt the holders of such passports would willingly travel to Russia, Saudi Arabia, China, or even Japan. Most likely, just to other accepting countries in Western Europe, Canada, etc.

Otherwise, some nonbinary U.S. citizens might obtain a passport because their own states don't have X as an option for their own state ID cards. In such cases, applying for a U.S. Passport Card (a plastic card issued by the U.S. State Department to allow land/sea crossings to Canada, Mexico, and several Carribbean nations) can offer a good alternative to a state ID.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

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