Human Rights and Equity Committee
On January 23, 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a directive to the US State Department to suspend all applications for passports with an "X" gender marker, effective immediately. This directive followed the executive order signed by the Trump administration on January 20, 2025, specifically targeting transgender, intersex, and nonbinary individuals.
The "X" marker was introduced in 2022 for nonbinary, intersex, and trans applicants. Additionally, the State Department has put any gender changes to passports on hold, halting individuals from changing the gender listed on their passport or getting a new one that reflects their gender rather than their sex assigned at birth. According to an internal State Department email that has been widely reported, "the policy of the United States is that an individual's sex is not changeable."
AFA is partnering with the ACLU to assist those Flight Attendants who may be affected by this new directive. Please reach out to us if:
- You have already applied for a passport with the correct gender marker but haven’t received your passport yet
- You have already applied to renew your passport that has the correct gender marker but haven’t received your passport back yet
- You have not yet applied for a passport with the correct gender marker but want to
- You have a passport with the correct gender marker that will need to be renewed soon
- You are a Flight Attendant who mostly flies international
- You are a reserve Flight Attendant who may be called for an international assignment
Please send an email to HumanRights@UnitedAFA.org using your personal email (not your United company mail) with your full name, base, U-number, and phone number to get further details. If you have any additional concerns, do not hesitate to reach out.
If you may be experiencing a mental health crisis, please reach out to EAP at 1-800-424-2406. Reps are available 24/7 to assist you and your loved ones.
HRE Resources: