There's just one facility within the US that prints gender-neutral passports. A nonbinary particular person was compelled to get a 'male' passport consequently.

• Devin-Norelle, who makes use of ze/zim pronouns, utilized to get a gender-neutral passport.
• Ze discovered ze could not get one as a result of just one facility within the US can print “X” gender markers.
• The State Division confirmed this, saying it plans to replace its system later this 12 months.

Final fall, Devin-Norelle, who makes use of ze/zim pronouns, had a break in zis busy journey schedule. As a contract author, mannequin, and influencer, ze is normally jet-setting no less than as soon as a month — whether or not to California, London, or Cuba.

However when ze had a two-month hole in journey, Devin-Norelle determined to submit a passport renewal. Ze wished a gender-neutral passport. 

“I’ve at all times wished one thing that did not say both ‘F’ or ‘M,’ and I lastly had this chance,” Devin-Norelle advised Insider.

The US State Division began permitting residents to request an “X” gender marker on passports in April 2022, and Devin-Norelle, as a nonbinary particular person, was intent on benefiting from it. 

However Devin-Norelle mentioned ze struggled to get the gender-neutral passport. That is as a result of there is just one facility within the US that prints these passports, and it was too removed from Devin-Norelle.

Devin-Norelle utilized for a gender-neutral passport in 2022

Devin-Norelle filed a passport-renewal utility with 9 weeks to spare earlier than zis subsequent journey in January 2023 — which is effectively inside the expedited window of seven to 9 weeks beneficial by the State Division. However when six weeks glided by with no replace, Devin-Norelle known as and request an expedited renewal. 

The agent supplied an appointment at a processing facility in New Hampshire, which Devin-Norelle mentioned was not a lot assist contemplating ze lives in New York Metropolis. Finally, Devin-Norelle snagged an appointment in Stamford, Connecticut, which was accessible by practice. 

When Devin-Norelle obtained there, nonetheless, ze bumped into extra roadblocks. They had been the “nicest folks on the earth,” Devin-Norelle mentioned, however the brokers defined that the ability lacked the printing expertise to stamp an “X” on the passport. And Devin-Norelle’s passport paperwork had been caught in Arizona.

Devin-Norelle requested why zis supplies had been despatched to Arizona within the first place. The agent defined that the Arizona facility was the one one within the nation that might print an “X” gender marker on passports.

Devin-Norelle mentioned ze was “floored, fully floored, to say the least.”

Whereas printing an ‘X’ as an alternative of an ‘F’ or ‘M’ could look like a easy factor that any printer might do, that is not the case

A State Division spokesperson confirmed to Insider that just one facility can print gender-neutral passports proper now.

“Whereas we settle for purposes for ‘X’ gender-marker passports from throughout the nation, at present solely the Western Passport Middle in Tucson, Arizona, prints ‘X’ gender-marker passports,” the spokesperson mentioned. 

However the State Division plans to replace its software program later this 12 months, which ought to repair the issue.  

“All passport companies will have the ability to print US passport books and playing cards with the ‘X’ gender marker,” they mentioned. 

However that wasn’t a lot assist to Devin-Norelle as ze scrambled to get a passport, any passport, earlier than zis impending journey this January. 

“It nonetheless simply does not make any sense,” Devin-Norelle mentioned. “How arduous is it to vary the ‘M’ or the ‘F’ to an ‘X?'”  

However the spokesperson on the State Division mentioned, “We’re dedicated to creating the required updates to our methods as shortly as attainable.”

Devin-Norelle wasn’t capable of get a gender-neutral passport

Ze ended up securing a brief passport that day, with an “M” gender marker. The passport brokers waived the expediting price.

Devin-Norelle needed to journey with a passport that also does not match zis gender identification. Devin-Norelle mentioned that usually safety brokers aren’t paying a lot consideration to the gender marker on a passport, so ze hasn’t run into any main points. 

“Once I masks up, folks can not determine what gender I’m,” ze says.

Nonetheless, Devin-Norelle mentioned ze would favor a gender-neutral passport.

“It is disappointing. If you happen to’re fully rolling out a program that is nationwide, and you’ve got tons of of hundreds of US residents which are nonbinary, it is sending a message that these particular residents aren’t as essential to you as different residents,” Devin-Norelle mentioned. “It isn’t like we’re asking for a billion {dollars}. We’re simply asking for a letter.”