The Biden administration has announced a handful of new policies and initiatives intended to make life easier for transgender Americans, even as Republican-led states around the country pass legislation targeting transgender, nonbinary, and gender-variant individuals. 

Coinciding with the celebration of the Transgender Day of Visibility on Thursday, some of the new changes include the introduction of a new “X” gender marker on U.S. passport applications, set to take effect on April 11, and new Transportation Security Administration scanners that are gender-neutral, according to The Associated Press.

Twenty-one U.S. states and the District of Columbia currently offer gender-neutral options on official identification, including driver’s licenses.

Fifteen countries around the world — Argentina, Austria, Australia, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Malta, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, India and Nepal — currently offer a third gender or gender-neutral option on passports.

Last October, Naval veteran and intersex advocate Dana Zzyym received the first-ever U.S. passport with a gender-neutral “X” marker following a six-year battle to obtain a passport reflecting their correct gender identity.

Introducing the “X” marker, like the one obtained by Zzyym, will bring a measure of consistency for transgender, nonbinary or intersex individuals who live in the 22 U.S. jurisdictions where nonbinary gender markers on licenses are available, allowing them to have a passport that matches their licenses, state identification cards, and — in most of those jurisdictions — vital documents such as birth certificates.

Advocates hope that providing that consistency will prevent transgender, nonbinary and intersex individuals from being “outed” against their will or experiencing discrimination or harassment that can result when they are forced to submit various forms of documentation that either don’t match each other or don’t match the person’s gender identity and expression.

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Visitors to the White House will soon also be able to select an “X” gender marker option in the White House Worker and Visitor Entry System, which is used to conduct screening background checks for visitors to the executive mansion. This will make things easier for transgender or nonbinary who have official business with the White House.

Amy Schneider, the first transgender Jeopardy! champion, who enjoyed the second-longest streak of wins in the program’s history, will be one of these visitors to the White House on Thursday, when she’s slated to meet with second gentleman Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris.

By introducing gender-neutral scanners at airports, removing gender from the identity verification process, and adding the “X” marker option to TSA Pre-Check, the Biden administration hopes to resolve what has become a thorny issue when TSA employees “flag” transgender individuals because their gender expression either does not match the gender on their identification or because a person’s body does not match the machine’s expectations of what a “male” or “female” body should look like. This has led some transgender or nonbinary people to be detained by TSA or blocked from traveling unless they expose themselves or show their genitals to TSA employees.

“These updates to passports and TSA policy will make it safer for transgender, nonbinary, and intersex members of our community to travel and to walk through everyday life,” Sarah Kate Ellis, the president and CEO of GLAAD, said in a statement. “Everyone deserves the right to have identity documents that reflect who they are, and to go through airport security without facing harassment and public humiliation. At a time when so many state legislatures are attacking our community, it’s heartening to have federal leadership take so much action to support LGBTQ Americans, especially trans youth.”

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The Biden administration has also announced upcoming changes to the Social Security system to allow transgender people to more easily access benefits they’ve earned throughout their lives, including prior to transitioning; new initiatives at the Department of Education to support inclusive school environments; initiatives at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to protect transgender and nonbinary workers from discrimination; the launch of a new federals-run mental health resource for LGBTQ youth; and additional funding to add sexual orientation and gender identity questions to U.S. Census surveys.

President Biden will speak directly to transgender youth in a video address, hoping to assuage their anxiety or feelings of isolation by assuring them of federal support, even as state lawmakers introduce bills to restrict youths’ ability to play sports or access gender-affirming medical care.

Also on Thursday, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, along with Admiral Rachel Levine, the assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services, will host a conversation with transgender children and their parents at the White House.

Meanwhile, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona is meeting with LGBTQ students in Florida following passage of a law barring instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in primary grades, focusing on the students’ experiences in schools and support for mental health and well-being.

Republicans have argued that the law protects young children from being exposed to topics better left for their parents to address at home. LGBTQ advocates are skeptical that the law will be limited to just primary grades, and will, when actually implemented, be used to punish or suppress the speech of older LGBTQ students or erase LGBTQ identity from schools altogether.

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The White House also announced that the Department of Health and Human Services will be the first agency to fly a Trans Pride flag.

In a proclamation issued on Wednesday evening, Biden marked the Transgender Day of Visibility by recognizing the progress that the transgender community has enjoyed in recent years due to various policies or court decisions, while also calling attention to the obstacles they continue to face. 

“On this day and every day, we recognize the resilience, strength, and joy of transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people,” Biden said. “We celebrate the activism and determination that have fueled the fight for transgender equality. We acknowledge the adversity and discrimination that the transgender community continues to face across our Nation and around the world.

“Visibility matters, and so many transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming Americans are thriving,” he added. “Like never before, they are sharing their stories in books and magazines; breaking glass ceilings of representation on television and movie screens; enlisting — once again — to serve proudly and openly in our military; getting elected and making policy at every level of government; and running businesses, curing diseases, and serving our communities in countless other ways.

“Despite this progress, transgender Americans continue to face discrimination, harassment, and barriers to opportunity.  Transgender women and girls — especially transgender women and girls of color — continue to face epidemic levels of violence, and 2021 marked the deadliest year on record for transgender Americans. Each of these lives lost was precious. Each of them deserved freedom, justice, and joy. We must honor their lives with action by advancing equity and civil rights for all transgender people.

“In the past year, hundreds of anti-transgender bills in States were proposed across America, most of them targeting transgender kids. The onslaught has continued this year. These bills are wrong.

“Efforts to criminalize supportive medical care for transgender kids, to ban transgender children from playing sports, and to outlaw discussing LGBTQI+ people in schools undermine their humanity and corrode our Nation’s values. Studies have shown that these political attacks are damaging to the mental health and well-being of transgender youth, putting children and their families at greater risk of bullying and discrimination. My entire Administration is committed to ensuring that transgender people enjoy the freedom and equality that are promised to everyone in America.”

That commitment seemed apparent on Thursday, when the Justice Department issued a letter to all state attorneys general reminding them of constitutional and statutory provisions that protect transgender youth against discrimination, including trans youth who seek out gender-affirming care.

The letter warns that policies or laws blocking medical care may infringe on individuals’ right to due process and equal protection under the law, and run afoul of Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

“The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that all children are able to live free from discrimination, abuse and harassment,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, of the department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement. “Today’s letter reaffirms state and local officials’ obligation to ensure that their laws and policies do not undermine or harm the health and safety of children, regardless of a child’s gender identity.”