cnn
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The State Department has suspended processing passport applications seeking the “X” gender marker and will only process and issue passports to people who identify as male or female, according to a Department spokesperson.
The measure aligns with an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Monday that states that it is the policy of the US Government to “recognize two sexes, male and female” and that “these sexes are not changeable.”
“In accordance with that order, the Department’s issuance of U.S. passports will reflect the biological sex of the individual as defined in the order,” the spokesperson said Friday.
In addition to suspending processing of applications with the X marker, the State Department is no longer issuing U.S. passports with this marker, the spokesperson said.
They stated that “guidance on previously issued passports with the X sex marker is being prepared.”
Trump’s executive order reverses changes made under the Biden administration aimed at accommodating nonbinary, intersex and gender nonconforming people. As of April 2022, Americans had been able to select X as their gender marker.
The federal government will also switch from using the term “gender” to “sex,” and that sex is “an immutable biological classification of the individual,” a Trump administration official told reporters Monday.
Trump’s executive order says all government agencies will ensure that official documents, including passports, visas and Global Entry cards, “accurately reflect the sex of the holder.” Employee records will also adhere to the decree, as will communication from federal departments.
Trump promised during his campaign to ask Congress to stop using federal dollars to promote and pay for gender-affirming procedures. He has also said his administration would not allow hospitals and health care providers to meet federal health and safety standards for Medicaid and Medicare if they provide chemical or physical gender-affirming care to young people.
