Germany Warns Transgender Citizens About Travel to U.S.
Germany's Foreign Office is warning transgender and nonbinary travelers that they may face obstacles when trying to enter the United States.
Germany’s Foreign Office is issuing warnings to transgender and nonbinary citizens traveling to the United States.
The warning is due to a recent executive order from President Donald Trump declaring that only passports with male or female gender markers will be accepted as valid. The order erases transgender identity from law, refusing to acknowledge a person’s gender identity if it differs from their assigned sex at birth.
Under Trump’s order, the U.S. will only recognize two sexes: male and female, based on biological characteristics at birth as a matter of policy. It declares that gender cannot be changed through medical interventions.
Only female or male gender markers will be accepted on passports — something that applies not only to U.S. citizens, but all visitors entering the U.S.
The German Foreign Office warned that those seeking temporary visas must designate themselves as male or female in order to gain entry to the country. It also advised those who had obtained the gender-neutral “X” marker on their passport, or those whose gender differs from their assigned sex at birth to contact the relevant U.S. authorities and find out all entry requirements before attempting to enter the U.S.
The warning comes after Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a directive requiring all visa applicants to list their assigned sex at birth.
The order was touted as an effort to ensure that transgender female athletes traveling to the U.S. for sports competitions would not be able to compete as women.
However, the policy will be applied to all transgender visa applicants, regardless of whether they intend to participate in sporting competitions.
Under Rubio’s directive, any visa applicant whose gender marker on their application does not match their assigned sex at birth can be turned away and even banned permanently from the United States for life on the basis that they have committed identity fraud and misrepresented who they are.
The State Department recently deleted nearly all mentions of transgender identity from its own international travel advisory page.
Now, the page only contains advice for “LGB” people traveling abroad to places where homosexuality may be criminalized or where being “out” is considered socially taboo.
The one reference to gender identity is indirect, simply advising travelers that many countries “only recognize the male and female sex markers in passports and do not have IT systems at ports of entry that can accept other sex markers.”
As noted by Christopher Wiggins of The Advocate, in Germany, transgender and nonbinary individuals can change their first name and gender marker through a notarized declaration, which in turn makes it easier for them to obtain a new birth certificate and identity documents with gender markers reflecting their gender identity.
By comparison, in the United States, identity documents vary according to the state where a person resides.
Although the United States State Department previously allowed some individuals to obtain a nonbinary or gender-neutral “X” marker on their passports, it no longer offers that option.
Existing passports with an “X” marker — or a gender marker that differs from a person’s assigned sex at birth — will be valid until they expire, at which point a person will have to obtain a passport that designates them as “male” or “female” as long as Trump’s executive order and Rubio’s directive remain in place.
Support Metro Weekly’s Journalism
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.