Although only a small extra box to fill in gender, this is a huge step for D. Ojeda, a gender-neutral person who became one of the first Americans to apply for a gender-neutral passport.

“My family still doesn't understand what I'm doing,” said Ojeda, a 34-year-old activist named D. who uses the pronouns “them, them” for themself.

The option to obtain an “X” gender passport, provided by the administration of US President Joe Biden, was warmly welcomed by approximately 1.2 million Americans whose gender identity falls outside the “male or female” category.

Republican lawmakers across the country have already passed legislation that critics say restricts LGBTQ+ rights and is likely to fuel tensions between camps in an otherwise divided nation.

When filling in an X in their passport, gender-neutral people do not have to prove their condition with medical documents.

Ojeda, who was born a woman, works as an organizer at the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) and holds a doctorate in psychology. They also define themselves as a trans person.

In October, the State Department issued the first U.S. passport with an X for gender after a long litigation between a person from Colorado who is intersex.

It was not until March 31, International Transsexual Visibility Day, that the State Department announced that it was extending this right to all Americans.

Issuing a gender-neutral passport in the United States is not the first in the world. Australia began issuing X-boxes in 2011, and New Zealand, Canada, Germany, Argentina, Pakistan and Nepal followed suit.

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