Niamh Shackleton
One of the executive orders signed by Donald Trump in recent days will affect some people's passports.
Trump has been making waves since making his momentous return to the White House earlier this week, and signed several executive orders pretty much as soon as he stepped foot into the Oval Office.
Some of the things his changes will affect is employment in the US, climate change, and immigration.
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As per BBC News, Trump signed more than 200 orders on Monday (January 20). An executive order is a written order issued by the president to the federal government which does not require congressional approval, the news outlet explained.
One executive order the 78-year-old signed is one titled 'Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government'.
One of the key changes the bill brings is the idea that there are only two genders (male and female). With this in mind, transgender women will no longer be housed in female prisons.
The order will also affect non-binary people's passports.
A 2021 survey found that 1.2 million Americans defined themselves as non-binary, and those who wished to put 'X' as their gender on their passports were able to do so under the Biden Administration.
The first X gender passport was issued in October 2021 — something which was hailed as a 'momentous step' at the time by diplomat Jessica Stern.
"The addition of a third gender marker propels the US forward toward ensuring that our administrative systems account for the diversity of gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics among US citizens," she said, Sky News reported.
But now, X passport applications are being frozen by the US state department in the wake of Trump's recently-signed executive order.
In an email obtained by The Guardian, Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently said to employees: "The policy of the United States is that an individual’s sex is not changeable."
He went on to state that 'sex, and not gender, shall be used' on official documentations, including passports and consular report of birth abroad documents.
Staff were further ordered to 'suspend any application requesting an X sex marker' and 'suspend any application where the applicant is seeking to change their sex marker'.
It's believed the new policy affects both current and future passport applications.
As it stands, passports already issued with the X sex marker are still valid, but problems are likely to arise for those who need to update their travel documents in the near future.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT national hotline at 888-843-4564, available Monday to Friday 4pm-12am ET and 12pm-5pm ET on Saturdays.