OFM Breaking: America’s First Gender Neutral Passport Issued to Fort Collins Resident

The State Department issued its first official passport with an ‘X’ gender marker, as it seeks to be more inclusive to intersex and nonbinary people. 

The change comes after a federal lawsuit by a nonbinary Fort Collins resident, Dana Zzyym, who argued that it was impossible to get a passport that could accurately reflect their gender identity. 

“It’s great news for all intersex and nonbinary people because it basically says that we can get our passports,” Zzyym told NPR in June. “We don’t have to lie to get our passports. We can just be ourselves.”

Lambda Legal, who represented Zzyym during their federal lawsuit, announced that the Colorado resident was the first to receive their gender ‘X’ passport. 

At least 20 states and Washington, D.C. have also implemented similar changes to state identification. The change in passport markers is in line with several other nations which provide gender-neutral passports including Canada, India, Australia, Nepal, and New Zealand. 

“In terms of the assertion of nonbinary identity, it has gotten a lot more attention recently, and legally speaking, the policies are catching up,” says Arli Christian, state policy counsel for the National Center for Transgender Equality. “For the most accurate identification document, there should be a nonbinary option.”

This change in policy comes amid myriad controversial legislation, including a North Carolina law requiring trans people to use the public restrooms that are consistent with the sex on their birth certificate. Zzyym however, is a perfect example as to how messy the process can be. 

Born intersex, the gender on Zzyym’s birth certificate was originally left blank, although the document was later amended to say ‘unknown.’ Zzyym served in the Navy as a man before openly identifying as intersex while working and studying at Colorado State University. 

Laws like the North Carolina bathroom bill ignore individuals, like Zzyym, whose birth certificate reads neither male nor female. 

“Intersex, nonbinary, and transgender people need identity documents that accurately reflect who we are, and having mismatched documents can create problems with safety and visibility,” says Mary Emily O’Hara of GLAAD.

The U.S. special diplomatic envoy for LGBTQ rights, Jessica Stern, says the decision brings the government documents in line with the “lived reality” that there is a wider spectrum of human sex characteristics than is reflected in the previous two designations.

“When a person obtains identity documents that reflect their true identity, they live with greater dignity and respect,” Stern says. “We see this as a way of affirming and uplifting the human rights of trans and intersex and gender-nonconforming and nonbinary people everywhere.”

While Zzyym, 63, says it was thrilling to finally get the passport, the goal was to help the next generation of intersex people win recognition as full citizens with rights, rather than travel the globe.

“I’m not a problem. I’m a human being. That’s the point,” Zzyym says.