Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The new passport will be given to transgender people on 22 April
The United States is to begin issuing passports with a gender marker that does not match the traveller’s sex at birth.
The government issued a statement confirming the change to gender recognition on passports on Monday.
Transgender people, born male and trans at birth, will find the new option of “X” on the passport of their choice.
It comes after a court order in New York, which originally mandated that anyone born with a “B” or “X” on their birth certificate have their gender added.
ABC News reports that officials from the US State Department have confirmed that since 1 March the new passports will be issued by 22 April.
The change does not affect immigration documents, and the department says that issuing a passport with a gender marker beyond the one listed on the birth certificate doesn’t constitute a “change of sex”.
The US is still one of only a few countries that doesn’t allow for people to make the gender on their passport their own. Other countries include Costa Rica, Sweden, Finland, Malta, and Italy.
