Americans Will Be Able to Self-Select Their Gender on New Passports

The U.S. State Department has announced that it will be changing its documentation procedures. In a move to become more inclusive, medical documentation requirements for transgender Americans will now be removed, allowing individuals to update their documents with their preferred gender markers.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said, "Today, I am pleased to announce that the Department will be taking further steps toward ensuring the fair treatment of LGBTQI+ U.S. citizens, regardless of their gender or sex, by beginning the process of updating our procedures for the issuance of U.S. Passports and Consular Reports of Birth Abroad (CRBA)." He went on to add, "Most immediately, we will be updating our procedures to allow applicants to self-select their gender as 'M' or 'F' and will no longer require medical certification if an applicant’s self-selected gender does not match the gender on their other citizenship or identity documents."

The department will also be adding other updates to the passport process, such as a gender marker for "for non-binary, intersex, and gender non-conforming persons applying for a passport or CRBA."

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