State Department issues first passport with 'X' as gender identity option

The federal government on Wednesday issued the first U.S. passport with the gender designation "X" for applicants who identify as neither male nor female.

The State Department expects to offer the designation more broadly next year, according to the Associated Press.

The U.S. special diplomatic envoy for LGBTQ rights, Jessica Stern, said the option brings government documents in line with the “lived reality” that there is a wider spectrum of human sex characteristics than is reflected in the previous two designations.

Officials did not announce to whom the passport was issued, amid speculation it was to Dana Zzyym, a Colorado resident who has been in a legal battle with the department over the issue since 2015.

Zzyym was denied a passport for failing to check male or female on an application. According to court documents, Zzyym wrote "intersex" above the boxes marked "M" and "F" and requested an "X" gender marker instead in a separate letter.

Zzyym was raised as a boy and underwent several surgeries that failed to make Zzyym appear fully male, according to court filings obtained by the wire service.