Hunter Schaferās Passport Gender Was Changed To āMaleā Following Trumpās Executive Order Requiring The Use Of Sex Assigned At Birth
āI just want to say trans people are beautiful. We are never going to stop existing. Iām never going to stop being trans. A letter and passport canāt change that, and f*** this administration.ā
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Weāre only a few weeks into the second Donald Trump presidency, and transgender folks, including Euphoria actress Hunter Schafer, are already experiencing attacks on their gender identity and safety.
Schafer has recently gone viral for posting an 8-minute video on social media explaining how āshockedā she was after opening her new passport and discovering her gender had been changed to āmaleā following Trumpās executive order. āI had a bit of a harsh reality check today and felt like itās important to share with whoever is listening,ā Schafer said at the start of the video.
For context, Trumpās āDefending Women from Gender Ideology Extremismā executive order signed on the first day of his presidency, says: āIt is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality. Under my direction, the Executive Branch will enforce all sex-protective laws to promote this reality.ā
āThe Secretaries of State and Homeland Security, and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, shall implement changes to require that government-issued identification documents, including passports, visas, and Global Entry cards, accurately reflect the holderās sex, as defined under section 2 of this order; and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall ensure that applicable personnel records accurately report Federal employeesā sex, as defined by section 2 of this order.ā
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Well, once this order was signed, the State Department stopped allowing transgender people to change the gender listed on their passports or get new passports that reflect their current gender identity. Under the Trump Administration, gender assigned at birth is the only thing that matters.
āSo, Iām sure most of us remember on, I think the first day of Trumpās presidency, he like, signed an executive order to declare only two genders recognized by the state, male and female assigned at birth,ā Schafer explained at the beginning of the video.
āSo my initial reaction to this because our president, you know, is a lot of talk is like, āIāll believe it when I see it.ā And today, I saw it on my new passport mail.ā
āTo specify, my gender markers were first changed in my teens when I first got my driverās license and then passport following all have been female since then, hasnāt really been a problem. However, last year when I was filming in Barcelona, our car got broken into and my bag got stolen, and inside of that was my passport, which was supposed to last me until my thirties, and so I got an emergency passport, which was very simple at the timeā¦but temporary, and only supposed to be used within the year,ā Schafer continued.
āSo, as soon as I got back to the States, I had to get this fixed and get it replaced with a real proper passport which I went to the Federal Passport Agency today in LA and didā¦I filled everything out just like I normally would, I put female, and when it was picked up today and I opened it up, it had changed the marker to male.ā
āIām not making this video to fear monger or to create drama or receive consolation. I donāt need it. But, I do think itās worth posting to sort of note the reality of the situation, and thatās it actually happening. And I was shocked. I was shocked because I didnātā¦I donāt know. I just didnāt think it was actually going to happen.ā
āI wanna acknowledge my privilege, um, like, not only as a famous or celebrity transwoman who is white, and thin, and can adhere to contemporary beauty standardsā¦and I passā¦and it still happened.ā
āI never had my birth certificate changed, so this has led me to believe that I think the agencies who are in charge of passports and this sort of thing are now required to cross reference birth certificates or I donāt know exactly what changed as far as the processing goes, but this is the first time this has happened to me since I changed my gender marker, weāre coming up on a decade now and I do believe itās a direct result of the administration our country is currently operating under.ā
āAnd I guess Iām just sort of scared of the way this stuff like slowly gets implemented, you know because things just sort of start happening I think as weāve seen in historical rises of facismā¦we start to normalize the circumstances weāre under and I just feel like itās important to share that itās not just talk. That this is real and itās happening, and no one, no matter their circumstance no matter how wealthy or white or pretty or whatever is excluded. This is real.ā
āI also want to say I donāt give a fuck that they put an āMā on my passport, um, it doesnāt change anything about me or my transness. However, it does make life a little harder, personally I think, I mean I havenāt tested it out yet, I will find out next week when I have to travel abroad for the first time with my new passport, but Iām pretty sure itās going to come along with having to out myself to border patrol agents and that whole gig much more often than I would like to or even is necessary.ā
āI just want to say trans people are beautiful. We are never going to stop existing. Iām never going to stop being trans. A letter and passport canāt change that, and fuck this administration.ā
As you can imagine, people were very upset after watching the video and spoke out in support of Schafer and every transgender person who is being targeted by the Trump administration:
āyall played with peoples lives in the electionā¦ ill never forgive you. ever. this is heartbreaking and so dangerous for the trans community,ā this person wrote.
@arianaswhip / Via x.com
āthere is no reason for this beyond hurting and ostracizing trans people. im so sad for her and everyone else that is burdened by this bullshit,ā another person agreed.
@folkloremickey / Via x.com
