On their way to the Philippines last week for a summit and press conference on clergy abuse, Canadian LGBTQ2S+ activist Gemma Hickey flew to Manila from their home in Newfoundland via Toronto and Vancouver, Canada, and an American city, Seattle.
It was mere days after U.S. President Donald Trump signed a flurry of executive orders that, among other things, aim to limit the rights of trans and nonbinary Americans. Of specific concern to Hickey was Trump’s order to stop issuing passports with an X gender marker, as opposed to M or F.
Hickey, who identifies as nonbinary, is one of the advocates who pressured Canada into issuing gender-neutral X passports, and in 2018, they were one of the first Canadians to be issued one. They’ve since flown around the world with the X travel document for more than six years, experiencing minimal questioning and hassle.
This trip felt different and left Hickey with serious doubts about the U.S. accepting X passports in the future.
Hickey went through U.S. immigration in Toronto (airline passengers from Canada to the U.S. are required to clear customs and immigration on Canadian soil before boarding the plane), and again in Vancouver after missing their first flight.
“It felt like a mini-interrogation. They asked more questions than usual, and they were more specific and more personal. I had to have photographs taken of my face,” says Hickey. “I was asked to pronounce my name a few times. It was awkward… [In Vancouver,] all of a sudden, my passport wouldn’t scan. The agent entered it manually and said, ‘Tech these days.’ I said, ‘It’s interesting with the timing.’ After a few minutes, he said I could go. It was really strange. It was the first time it’s ever happened to me and I’ve travelled all over the world. It was the worst scenario I’ve experienced so far.”
The experience was so negative, they changed their flights back to Canada to avoid making a connection in the United States. “I did rebook my flights this time, just to avoid the hassle,” Hickey says. “At this point, I don’t believe I should have to avoid going to the U.S. I’ll make those decisions based on where I’m at in my life, what I have going on. I do have other business in the U.S. in terms of advocacy work.”
The U.S. started making gender-neutral passports widely available in 2022 under former president Joe Biden. The government was ordered to issue them after a 2018 court ruling. Trump’s new order, along with his declaration that the U.S. government will only recognize two sexes, has raised questions about whether the U.S. will continue to recognize X passports issued by other countries, and about the future of the U.S.’s own X passport program.
When Hickey travels internationally, they often meet with local Canadian embassy staff to advocate for and share information about LGBTQ2S+ issues. Hickey suggests that people with X passports travelling to the United States have a security plan in place. That includes making sure allies know where you are, know your flight number and your schedule, making sure someone is waiting for you on the other side of your journey, and bringing along the contact information for the Canadian embassy and nearest consulate in the U.S. Travelling with someone who is not LGBTQ2S+, and as such won’t be targeted, may also be helpful. “There’s so much uncertainty right now. I’m hearing things on the ground and people are scared,” says Hickey.
Along with Canada and the U.S., about a dozen other countries issue passports that do not state male or female as the bearer’s gender, usually indicated with an X. Destination countries have discretion about whether they accept them or not—just like they have the discretion to accept any foreign visitor or not—but most do with the exceptions of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and, by some reports, Türkiye. “In some cases, even if your Canadian passport indicates an X gender marker, you may still be asked to provide binary sex information (either Male or Female) when travelling,” states the Government of Canada travel website. “While the Government of Canada recognizes the X gender identifier, it cannot guarantee your entry or transit through other countries.”
An estimated 16,700 Americans have applied for one annually since they were made available in 2022. The U.S. government has not provided any information about if or when current applicants will receive theirs or whether the policy of issuing X passports will be rescinded.
Sydney Duncan, senior counsel at the national lobby group Advocates for Trans Equality, does not think that existing American X passports will be revoked. “There is confidence that those passports are valid and will continue to be valid, though anything is possible with this administration,” says Duncan.
Making the issue even more frustrating for travellers is that so much of what’s known about these presidential orders will be executed is anecdotal. People are parsing stories like Hickey’s to figure out what is going on. “It’s a large problem for the nonbinary community, and we’re assessing what that looks like outside of a direct verbal order to the Secretary of State and the Secretary of State’s response there,” says Duncan. “There’s not much policy on paper yet.”
Duncan says that for trans and nonbinary people, it’s important for their safety that the identifying documents match their identity. Any discrepancies might trigger more intensive screening and put them in jeopardy. “Being outed by a passport may cause a situation that might be dangerous to you,” she says.
Duncan says it is likely that many of Trump’s executive orders targeting trans and nonbinary people will not have the legal standing to take effect as policy in the long term. “My hope is that the harms will be relieved by court order in some way, through injunctive relief. There’s some confidence that these things are not going to be permanent. We think the basis for this administration’s actions aren’t legal. We don’t think they’re constitutional and they violate all sorts of laws. My hope is that the harm being done is temporary, that we see some relief pretty quickly,” she says.
Meanwhile, Americans who are waiting for a new X passport to be issued may not be able to travel internationally until the government reveals its next steps. And non-Americans who have or want an X passport will have to reconsider if the document will get them where they want to go, particularly if their destination is in the United States.
Brit Buckworth, a 25-year-old Canadian studying hospitality and tourism in Toronto, already has an X driver’s licence and plans on getting an X passport when their current one comes up for renewal. The possibility that said passport may not be accepted in the United States—or will be accepted but only after intrusive screening—has not made them change their mind about getting one.
“I don’t have a desire to travel to the States right now, to be honest, because of what’s going on down there,” says Buckworth, who identifies as nonbinary. “I wouldn’t feel safe travelling there. There are a lot of states that aren’t really safe for someone like me to even be in.”
Buckworth says having documents that are not marked male or female is important to them, to prevent them from being misgendered and having to verbally out themselves over and over again. “A lot of people, if they don’t hear me talk, might assume I’m a 15-year-old boy. People do a double take sometimes, especially when I go to the washroom. Recently I’ve been called ‘ma’am’ or ‘miss’ and stuff like that, which kinda sucks.”
Although Trump’s policies may mean Buckworth can’t—or won’t want to—travel to the U.S. for the next four years, their biggest concerns are for trans and nonbinary Americans.
“I’m very nervous for the people who live there. I think about how I would feel if I was living there, like I’m not valid as a human being,” says Buckworth. “I don’t understand why nonbinary and trans people’s existence is affecting people who have nothing to do with us. We’re just trying to live our lives like anybody else.”
