Tag: Nonbinary

  • US issues its first passport with ‘X’ gender marker

    US issues its first passport with ‘X’ gender marker

    According to a statement from the United States (US) State Department, the first American passport with an “X” gender marking was issued on Wednesday, aiming to allow non-binary, intersex, and gender-nonconforming people to mark themselves other than male or female on their travel document, Reuters has reported.

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced in June that the X marker would be offered as an option on passports, following other countries, including Canada, Germany, Australia and India, which already offer a third gender on documents.

    US Department Spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement that the US was moving toward adding the “X” gender marker as an option for those applying for US passports or Consular Reports of Birth Abroad.

  • First Muslim queer lawmaker elected in America

    First Muslim queer lawmaker elected in America

    Mauree Turner won her race for Oklahoma state House for District 88 becoming the first non-binary state legislator in US history and first Muslim lawmaker in Oklahoma.

    As per reports, Turner, 27, defeated Republican candidate Kelly Barlean to represent the district, winning about 71% of the votes, according to the Oklahoma State Election Board’s unofficial results.

    Turner identifies as non-binary, which the National Center for Transgender Equality defines as gender understood as neither male nor female. Turner uses both they/she as pronouns, according to Turner’s Twitter profile. She used the same on her campaign website.

    According to the LGBTQ Victory Fund, a national organisation dedicated to electing LGBTQ people, there are currently four known genderqueer or nonbinary-identified elected officials serving in the US and five public LGBTQ elected officials in Oklahoma. Turner is the first non-binary person to be named to a state legislature.

    An activist, community organiser and native Oklahoman, Turner has spent most of her life fighting for issues such as immigration rights, racial justice and criminal justice. Living as a black Muslim American queer woman in the state of Oklahoma, Turner said, she experienced not being seen or heard by lawmakers. Her campaign ran on a platform of seeking to drive conversations about what inclusive