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State Dept. issues pro-trans policy for U.S. passports

‘Significant’ change correctly identifies gender

Published

16 years ago

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Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality (Blade photo by Michael Key)

A recent change at the State Department enabling transgender Americans to have their correct gender identified on U.S. passports is being hailed as “hugely significant.”

The change, unveiled June 10 by the State Department, mandates that U.S. passports reflect the appropriate gender of transgender people who present certification from a doctor saying they’ve undergone gender transition. Under previous rules, sexual reassignment surgery on genitalia was a prerequisite for gender change on a passport.

Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, said the new policy is “hugely significant” and the “biggest administrative win to date.”

“As we’ve needed better and better ID — more and more consistent ID — it’s been harder and harder for trans people to get it,” she said. “This is a step in the right direction.”

If a transgender person is in the process of transitioning but hasn’t yet fully transitioned, a State Department rep said a temporary passport valid for two years would be issued. After the person has fully transitioned, the department would issue a passport that is valid for 10 years.

Keisling said the change enables transgender people to have an official source of identification that correctly identifies their gender, which she noted is important for transgender people who live in areas where they aren’t allowed to change their gender on other forms of identification.

She said that Tennessee, Ohio and Idaho, for example, are places where residents aren’t allowed to change their gender on their birth certifications.

“It means that when you go apply for a job, you have to out yourself, because you have to show them government-issued ID, which often is triggered by your birth certificate or your driver’s license,” Keisling said. “Now trans people in those states can use their passports.”

Keisling said the new change also helps national security and the identification process because “now you have people with consistent ID that makes sense for who they really are.”

“At border crossings, they’re not looking for genitals,” Keisling said. “They’re looking for guns and drugs — and that’s what they should be looking for.”

In a Blade interview, Michael Kirby, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for consular affairs, said the policy came to the attention of the State Department in February.

Kirby said the National Center for Transgender Equality and other LGBT groups met with department officials and determined “the policy was out of date from what it should be.”

“Up until that time, we required a statement from a physician that there had been an operation to accomplish the transgender change,” he said. “We were told that’s not what current medical theory is.”

According to a State Department statement issued last week, the new policy is based on the standards of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, an organization the American Medical Association recognizes as an authority in transgender issues.

Although the change still requires a statement from a medical physician noting that a person has undergone gender transition, Keisling said this certification could be based on different factors depending on the individual because of “modern understanding of what it means to be a transsexual.”

“Some people may just need hormone therapy, some people may need some kind of surgery,” Keisling said. “They may need surgery and not be able to afford surgery, and that’s taken into account by the standards of care that the medical profession has set about.”

Kirby said a certification from a physician must include, among other things, a medical license or certification number, contact information, a statement affirming that he or she is the attending physician and language noting the applicant “has had appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition to the new gender.”

“So it’s fairly simple,” Kirby said. “But it has to be a doctor-patient relationship, not a non-professional relationship.”

The State Department statement says officers who issue passports “will only ask appropriate questions” for applications to obtain information necessary to determine citizenship and identity.

Kirby said this guidance is to ensure officials won’t ask probing questions such as “Why did you do this,” “When did it happen,” or other inquiries that “are really not germane” to a transgender person’s passport application.

The new change comes about 18 months into the Obama administration and after about the same length of time that organizations, including HRC, advocated for the new change as a policy that could be made without a change in law.

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Pennsylvania

Pa. House passes bill to codify marriage equality in state law

Governor supports gay state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta’s measure

Published

1 day ago

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March 26, 2026

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Pennsylvania Capitol Building (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would codify marriage equality in state law.

House Bill 1800 passed by a 127-72 vote margin. Twenty-six Republicans voted for the measure.

The Republican-controlled Pennsylvania Senate will now consider the bill that state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D-Philadelphia), who is the first openly gay person of color elected to the state’s General Assembly, introduced. Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro supports the measure.

“Here in Pennsylvania, we believe in your freedom to marry who you love,” said Shapiro on Wednesday. “Today, the House has stepped up to protect that right.”

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Florida

DeSantis signs emergency bill that restores Fla. ADAP funding

Temporary funds to last through June 30

Published

2 days ago

on

March 25, 2026

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Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (Screen capture/NBC News)

After the Florida Department of Health made huge cuts to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program in January, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed emergency legislation restoring HIV access to more than 12,000 Floridians.

Two months ago, as the Washington Blade reported, the Sunshine State cut the vast majority of those in ADAP by shifting the income levels required for eligibility — without following standard procedure when changing government policy outside of legislative or executive action.

The bill, signed by DeSantis on Tuesday, passed both chambers of the Florida Legislature unanimously and appropriates $30.9 million in emergency bridge funding through June 30, 2026. It restores Florida’s ADAP income eligibility to 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level — the level it was prior to the January cuts. The legislation also requires the FDOH to submit detailed monthly financial reports to legislative leadership beginning April 1.

Under the old policy, eligibility would have been limited to those making no more than 130 percent of the federal poverty level, or $20,345 per year.

“For 10 weeks, 12,000 Floridians living with HIV did not know if they could fill their next prescription. Today, they can,” Esteban Wood, director of advocacy and legislative affairs at AIDS Healthcare Foundation, said in a statement.

The detailed reports now required to be sent to legislative leadership must include all federal revenues and expenditures, including manufacturer rebates; enrollment figures by county and insurance status; prescription utilization by drug class; and any projected funding shortfalls. This is the first time the Legislature has required this level of financial transparency from the program.

DeSantis signed the legislation one day after a Leon County Circuit Court judge denied AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s request for an injunction to block the significant changes the DeSantis administration is making to the program, which it claims faces a $120 million shortfall for calendar year 2026.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a national organization focused on protecting and expanding HIV healthcare access and prevention methods, filed a lawsuit over the change in eligibility, arguing the Florida Department of Health did not follow the laid out path for formally changing policy and was acting outside established procedures.

Typically, altering eligibility for a statewide program requires either legislative action or adherence to a multistep rule-making process, including: publishing a Notice of Proposed Rule; providing a statement of estimated regulatory costs; allowing public comment; holding hearings if requested; responding to challenges; and formally adopting the rule. According to AIDS Healthcare Foundation, none of these steps occurred.

The long-term structure of ADAP will be determined by the 2026–2027 fiscal year state budget, something that lawmakers have until June 30 to finish.

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Federal Government

Markwayne Mullin confirmed as next DHS secretary

Okla. senator to succeed Kristi Noem

Published

3 days ago

on

March 24, 2026

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The U.S. Senate confirmed Markwayne Mullin as the next secretary of Homeland Security on Monday, as the agency continues to grapple with what lawmakers have described as a “never-ending” funding standoff, with Democrats attempting to withhold funding from one of the nation’s largest and most costly agencies.

Mullin — a Republican senator from Oklahoma, former mixed martial arts fighter, and plumbing business owner — was confirmed in a 54–45 vote. Two Democrats — U.S. Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) — sided with Republicans in supporting his confirmation.

The new agency head is expected to follow the policy direction set by President Donald Trump, emphasizing stricter immigration enforcement. This includes proposals to support immigration agents at polling sites and to cut funding to so-called “sanctuary cities.”

Mullin replaces Kristi Noem, who was fired earlier this month following a widely scrutinized 2-day congressional hearing on Capitol Hill.

During the hearing, Noem faced intense questioning over her response to several crises, including the fatal shooting of two American citizens in Minneapolis by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, a $220 million border security advertising campaign that featured her on horseback near Mount Rushmore amid one of the largest federal workforce reductions in U.S. history, and the federal response to major natural disasters such as the July 2025 Texas floods and Hurricane Helene in 2024.

Noem had previously drawn criticism for a series of policy decisions in South Dakota that broadly focused on restricting the rights of LGBTQ individuals. In 2023, she signed House Bill 1080, banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors. She also signed legislation and executive orders restricting trans athletes’ participation in women’s sports, as well as the state’s “Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” which critics argued enabled discrimination against LGBTQ individuals. Additionally, the state canceled contracts related to LGBTQ support services — including suicide prevention and health care navigation programs‚ and later agreed to a $300,000 settlement with trans advocacy group, The Transformation Project.

Despite her removal from DHS, Noem will remain in the Trump-Vance administration as a special envoy for the “Shield of the Americas,” an initiative aimed at promoting U.S. influence in the Western Hemisphere, including efforts to counter cartel networks, reduce Chinese influence, and manage migration.

The new head of DHS has served in Congress since 2013, in both houses of the federal legislature. While in the Senate and a member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Mullin has been a vocal critic of policies aimed at expanding LGBTQ inclusion. He led a group of lawmakers in urging the Administration for Community Living to reverse a rule requiring states to prioritize Older Americans Act services based on sexual orientation and gender identity, arguing the policy could have unintended consequences.

Mullin also makes history as the first Native American — and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation — to lead the Department of Homeland Security. He was also among the 147 Republicans who voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election results despite no evidence of widespread fraud, and was present in the U.S. House of Representatives chamber on Jan. 6.

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