Traveling While Trans: Does “X” Mark the Spot?
Having a non-binary gender option is great, but I doubt I’ll be switching.
Last week, the United States began offering a third gender option, “X”, on passport applications. This update was announced by the Department of Homeland Security on the Trans Day of Visibility, March 31, as one of a number of planned changes to make air travel easier for trans, non-binary, intersex, and gender non-conforming passengers.
The U.S. has lagged behind other nations in this regard; by the fall of 2021, over a dozen countries offered a non-binary or third gender option on passports. Many people throughout the world live outside of the boundaries of male and female, and have done so throughout human history. We should not have to misgender ourselves to gain access to documents and services that cisgender people take for granted.
As welcome as this news is to many, some question why we need to have gender markers on identification documents at all. While I feel that having more gender options to choose from is a good thing, I am also sympathetic to this view. I worry that having an “X” on my ID will be more likely to subject me to scrutiny by airport security, not less.
