Starting on April 11, U.S. citizens will be able to select “X” as their gender on passport applications. The “X” will reflect that the individual has an “unspecified or another gender identity.”

This is the continuation of a trend, seen in states such as New York, in which government identification, including birth certificates and driver’s licenses, offers a gender-neutral designation. These policies are likely well-meaning on the part of the organizations that are implementing them. In the context of traveling, transgender people can experience insensitive questioning and invasive security screenings if their bodies differ from what would be considered typical for the purposes of risk assessment.