Passports, social security cards, residence permits and other federal identification documents may soon offer a third gender option: X.
Already, at least a dozen states and Washington, D.C., have amended their laws to offer an X gender designation on some identifying documents, including driver’s licenses and birth certificates.
But federal rules have not changed much since 2010, when Americans were first able to apply to change the sex marker on their passports.
That application has always required medical certification and is only available for those who have transitioned from one gender to another; the State Department, which issues passports, asks applicants to select either male or female.