Passport, ID, & what We know
ID: text reads executive orders are not law. The text is made-up of scrapbook like cut out letters. It is over a faded image of thousands of 2SLGBTQ+ community members and allies marching. In the font of the crowd 2 people hold an Act Up sign made of black cloth, with white letters flanked by pink triangles on both sides. In the bottom right-hand corner is a freedom Oklahoma logo with the scissortail flycatcher in black.
This is not legal advice and it is not drafted by lawyers.
And, given the reality that most of our community cannot afford an individual consultation with an attorney, we wanted to share the information we have compiled so far about what you might want to consider if you're filing federal applications for correcting a gender marker or with documents that have a corrected gender marker.
We want to start by saying that many true reports of harm seem to happen because of the dangerous mix of confusion around overestimated political power we fall in line for, underestimates power in our communities we don't tap into, and oppressive systems hoping both of these things remain constant - that's how fascism survives and grows. They get more power when we actively don’t use ours.
As of 1/26/25, passport agents are reporting they have been told passport applications with an X gender marker are no longer to be accepted. Renewal applications asking for gender marker corrections are being suspended, piling up as employees are told to await explicit instruction. That means passport applications of folks who personally testify for gender marker correction are currently in limbo.
For folks who live in states that update rather than attach an amendment to your birth certificate:
If you are trans, a first time applicant and your gender marker correction has happened at a state level, passport administrators have no way of knowing that your application differs from sex assigned at birth.
For people who have corrected a gender marker and are looking to renew their passport: there is no clarity for administrators on how to proceed with those applications. They have been told they need to verify someone's sex assigned at birth. With no authority to verify and no process for how to verify.
When you apply for or renew a passport, all the information you give is assumed to be saved forever. Most of the time, the person in charge doesn’t need to look at your old documents. However, there’s a chance they could. They could be ordered to do this, but as of right now we are not getting any word this order has been made. Or they could do this because they just feel like they should, for various reasons - this is what over compliance looks like or giving away power looks like.
As of right now, all passport applications have been slowed down due to severe weather impacts, lack of a process on how to verify documents, and because the order is written in a way that makes it hard for folks to interpret.
A risk scale, as assessed by community members across the country and the movement:
Identity documents (including name changes) governed by the state
risk is state dependent - refer to best state connection for this information
Renewing federal documents that were already amended
moderate risk
Applying for new, first time federal documents with consistent ID documents
moderate risk
Amending federal documents for any reason
high risk
Correcting name with Social Security Administration
Low risk: in-person interactions
Moderate risk: mail transactions where one has to send away their documents
We have directly verified reports from partners across the country of trans folks trying to update their gender markers, having passports taken and not returned.
If you have confirmed reports, or experienced a similar situation, please don't hesitate to reach out to us directly at info@freedomoklahoma.org, or submit your experience through intake with Transgender Law Center, Advocates for Trans Equality, Lambda Legal, and/or the ACLU. If a more streamlined reporting process becomes available, we will share that update.
With regard to name changes, passport service employees are not deliberately being ordered to search for name changes. They are only being told to look for gender marker changes. However this is another place we might see folks giving away power, or overcompliance, happen.
There has been at least one confirmed instance of someone submitting a passport application and having their amended birth certificate confiscated.
Right now, the federal government is such a mess that we can’t fully tell if there’s a new rule, if old or new rules are being followed differently, or if people are following rules too much because of rumors, fear, or on purpose to cause harm. With the note that there is a long and documented history of passport offices being inconsistent about returning documents.
We at this time do NOT have any reports of anyone traveling with an amended passport facing issue upon going through immigration, customs, or passport control spaces.
We know the lack of clarity is scary, and that fear and lack of info are tools of the state meant to force overcompliance or submission through avoidance. We also know that knowledge and the autonomy to assess the risk you are comfortable taking, is critical for members of our community. As we get further information or updates, we will continue to share what we learn.
Five key pieces that are new(er) clarity:
1. Documents are NOT being confiscated by the passport offices or state department, but documents are being delayed in process. People are rightly worried, but there is not indication that anything malicious is being done with folks documents. The State Department literally is frozen without good guidance.
2. If people are applying with their old (read: convoluted birth sex) gender markers, they are getting processed right now on a very slow track that involves significant administrator review. If folks have urgent travel needs, they're being told to engage with their congressional offices...which is not helpful for us in OK.
3. All the public statements and public policy is that currently valid passports will continue to be honored and valid. If folks have X markers or updated markers and are worried about traveling abroad, they should not worry about getting back into the country if they are US Citizens. Congressional offices are also telling folks there are other means of validating re-entry in a future timeline where passports could be determined invalidated because of gender markers, but we don't know if that's actually helpful for anyone to hear.
4. Passport name changes on their own (w/o gender markers) should be processing without issue.
5. Folks are looking into confirming more questions around REAL ID. No immediate concerns have been identified right now.