Today, Garden State Equality, New Jersey’s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy, education, and wellness organization, issued a travel advisory for nonbinary and trans New Jersey residents. Nonbinary and trans New Jersey residents must exercise caution when traveling internationally and are at risk when reentering the United States, particularly when using a passport with an X gender marker.
The state of federal identification documents, such as passports, visas, and Global Entry cards, has been changing rapidly since President Donald Trump took office last week and issued a sweeping executive order targeting nonbinary and trans people.
At present, United States passports with an X gender marker that were issued prior to the executive order are valid. However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated that “guidance on existing passports containing an X sex marker will come via other channels.”
The situation continues to evolve quickly, and Garden State Equality will continue to keep New Jersey residents updated. We will also continue our commitment to hosting name and gender marker change pop-ups to assist New Jersey residents with updating their state identification documents.
“The executive order regarding the definition of sex and its implication for federal identity documents is needlessly cruel and is causing undue stress and anxiety to already marginalized people. The order stands against basic facts: trans, nonbinary, intersex, and gender diverse people have always existed and will continue to exist no matter what any government says,” said Aisling MacDonald (she/her), Trans Resiliency Project Manager and Trainer at Garden State Equality.
“It is the dream of this country that basic human rights are available to all, yet this executive order is another attempt to rob those rights from one group while other groups continue to enjoy them,” MacDonald added. “Any person who would uphold compassion, human decency, and simple truth should wonder why gender minorities are being attacked when all Americans are facing a litany of pressing, sometimes even life-or-death issues. It calls into question whose rights will be under attack next.”
Fact Sheet:
- State-issued forms of identification, such as birth certificates and driver’s licenses, are not affected by the executive order. Garden State Equality can help with your New Jersey name and gender marker change process.
- If you hold a passport with an amended gender marker, including an X gender marker: Your passport is currently valid. However, the situation is changing quickly and you should exercise caution when traveling internationally.
- If you have a passport application in process: If you sent out a passport application prior to the executive order and it included a change in gender marker, your application is currently on hold. The State Department has not yet issued clear guidance to passport offices on what to do with these applications.
- If you need to renew your passport: Applications for passport renewals with amended gender markers will be put on hold until the State Department issues further guidance, and we do not recommend such applications. This applies even if you are renewing a passport with an already changed gender marker, because passport offices have all previous applications on file.
You can consider applying for a passport with only a name change and no gender marker change, but this may also carry risk. - If you need to apply for a new passport: If all the materials you are submitting as part of your new passport application have consistent M or F gender markers, you are in a lower-risk situation and may be able to get your application processed without issue. We do not recommend applying for a new passport if any materials you submit contain a gender marker different from the passport you are applying for.
New Jersey residents with concerns about the status of the gender marker on their passports can contact the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation using this form.