Traveling is Nonbinary

In another groundbreaking first for gender-inclusive representation in terms of legal documentation, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser is pioneering accuracy and equality. He has joined forces with California and Oregon in a coalition of defending nonbinary gender designation on passports.

After Colorado recently passed House Bill 19-1039: Jude’s Law, which lifts the red-tape and restrictions around identity markers being changeable for trans and nonbinary folks to list “X” in the gender section on forms, it is clear that the state is ready to lead the charge in the next step of accurate, individual representation in all state and national-issued documentation.

Daniel Ramos, executive director of advocacy group One Colorado, said, “The recent passage of House Bill 19-1039: Jude’s Law and it’s strong bipartisan support demonstrates that ensuring transgender and nonbinary Coloradans have access to identity documents that reflect their authentic selves is truly a nonpartisan issue. It is time for our federal government to follow suit and offer nonbinary gender options on federal identity documents.”

A case which brought to light the issue of misalignment in legal documentation was 2015’s Zzyym vs. Pompeo. Now, before the federal appeals court in Denver, Dana Zzyym, a resident of Fort Collins, was denied a passport when they did not designate a binary option on their passport application. Zzyym was born intersex and currently identifies as nonbinary, and the Attorney General explains that individuals who do not identify as male or female deserve full legal recognition of their accurate gender identity on passports issued by the U.S. State Department.

“Coloradans use state-issued identification documents every day to interact with government agencies, law enforcement, and businesses. Providing non-binary identification documents in our state is easy to manage, respects our citizens’ gender identity, and is the right thing to do,” Weiser said. “The federal government needs to catch up with the states that are leading the way when it comes to equality. All Americans should be able to obtain a passport that accurately reflects their gender.”