It’s just a small box to tick on an application form, but a hugebreakthrough for D. Ojeda, a non-binary person who on Monday became one ofthe first Americans to apply for a gender-neutral passport, in line withmany other countries including New Zealand, Germany and Pakistanlink.
“Even with my family, they still don’t get it,” said Ojeda, a 34-year-oldactivist who goes by D. and uses the pronouns “they, them.” “So at least Ihave the government to say who I am as a person.”
The option to receive a passport with an “X” genderlink designation, which was made availableMonday by US link Joe Biden’sadministration, was hailed as a blessing for an estimated 1.2 millionAmericans whose gender link identity fallsoutside the categories of man or woman.
It came at a time when Republican lawmakers across the country have beenpassing legislation that critics say curtails LGBTQ rights and was likelyto further fuel tensions around genderlinkin a deeply divided nation.
At their home in the Washington suburb of Alexandria, Ojeda began to fillout the long online passport application form, putting down their first andlast name, then choosing from three options for genderlink: M for male, F for female and X forpeople who don’t identify as either. They chose the latter.
They also ticked the box for “gender change,” to reflect the differencefrom their previous passport, which identified them as female. They didn’thave to provide any medical documentation for the change.
“I think that’s incredible,” said Ojeda, who works as an organizer at theNational Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) and holds a doctoratedegree in psychology.
“What makes it difficult for trans people is just how hard it is to getanything changed,” such as legal documentation, said Ojeda.
When Ojeda and their NCTE colleagues learned of the new passport option,they “started crying at each other,” Ojeda added, seated at their desk in ablue sweater, with a thin beard and with their hair pulled back.
*- See me as ‘who I am’ -*
The State Department announced in October that it had issued the firstAmerican passport with the X designation for genderlink after a long legal battle waged by aperson from Colorado who is intersex.
But it was only on March 31, the International Day of TransgenderVisibility, that the State Department announced it was extending that rightto all Americans, as well as adopting other measures on the federal levelmeant to simplify administrative hurdles for transgender and non-binarypeople.
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A few other countries have similar policies. Australia began issuingX-gender passports link in 2011, withNew Zealand, Canada, Germany and Argentina joining the roster since then,as well as, Pakistan link and Nepal.
Ojeda already boasts a driver’s license from their home state of Virginia,where their gender link is marked as X.Ojeda said the procedure was simple: they received an appointment, filledout the application and the X box was already there.
“I was really happy about that because it was the first time I see myselfand I in an identification form,” Ojeda said.
Things, however, get more complicated with travel. Ojeda says they areoften called “Ma’am,” which is upsetting.
Born in Peru, Ojeda cannot wait to visit their relatives there, now thatthey have a new passport, which is required for international travel.
Though they are still struggling to get their family to accept them.
“You know, they don’t say the name that I want,” said Ojeda, who was givena different first name at birth.
“When I pretended to be a woman, and I tried really hard, there wassomething that always bothered me,” said Ojeda.
Now, they added, “I can turn around and say, ‘well in my ID the governmentsees me as who I am, and maybe you need to start seeing me as who I am.'”
“It feels like the world is safer.” -APP/AFP