Mexico offers non-binary passport for those who don't identify as male or female
Mexicans who identify as non-binary now have a third option to choose from other than male and female on new passports.
This comes after Mexico government's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued the country's first non-binary gender passports containing an "X" marker as an alternative for those who don't identify as either male or female.
Applicants may simply choose the X marker for the sex category of their passport, effectively omitting having to specify between the male and female categories.
The development coincides with the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia on May 17.
Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said that a "historic step is taken for Mexico" in light of the new policy.
"Important changes always begin in culture. Today, we are in a ceremony that is going to change the culture and, therefore, the daily life of the people. What we are doing has to do with a community that has the right to identity," Ebrard said.
Mexico now joins a list of 16 countries with passports that make it optional for people to identify with the binary genders (male or female).
Ebrard earlier this year announced that consulates will be able to issue birth certificates to trans people, which meant they will no longer need to travel to Mexico just to do so.
According to the LGBT Foundation, non-binary people are those who "feel their gender identity cannot be defined within the margins of gender binary. Instead, they understand their gender in a way that goes beyond simply identifying as either a man or woman."
