First ever gender-neutral passport issued in the US

• The US Department of State announced the issuing of the first gender-neutral passport on Wednesday.
• Certain US states allow non-binary people to identify as ‘X’ on driver’s licenses or other forms of ID.
• Gender-neutral IDs were just one promise Joe Biden made to the LGBT community on the campaign trail. 

The US Department of State announced on Wednesday that it has issued first ever US gender-neutral passport.

According to the State Department‘s spokesman Ned Price, the US “continues to take steps to demonstrate our commitment to promoting the freedom, dignity, and equality of all people – including LGBTQI+ US citizens.”

State Department official said that any applicant will soon be able to pick an ‘X’ instead of a traditional male or female option.

The news came three months after the State Department gave trans Americans the option of switching their gender on their passports without providing medical documents to prove their transition. At the time, Secretary of State Tony Blinken said officials were still “evaluating the best approach” for a non-binary option.

Certain US states allow non-binary people to identify as ‘X’ on driver’s licenses or other forms of ID, and a number of countries already allow the third-gender option on passports. Among them are Argentina, Canada, and New Zealand, while more than a dozen other countries issue third-gender passports to intersex or non-binary people in some circumstances. The option will be made available to all US applicants in early 2022.

Gender-neutral IDs were just one promise Joe Biden made to the LGBT community on the campaign trail. His campaign also promised to protect “LGBTQ+ individuals from violence,” to expand legal protections to transgender people by passing the Equality Act, and to grant transgender youth access to bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice.