Unsafe to Travel While Trans: Trump Pulls Trans Travel Resources

Earlier this year, the U.S. State Department erased travel safety resources for trans people. The government website still provides guidance for lesbian, gay, and bisexual travelers. However, all mentions of trans people are nowhere to be found. The social cost of this erasure is significant — especially given that the community being targeted is among the most vulnerable.

The Elevated Risk of Travel for Trans People

Trans people are the most at-risk population when traveling internationally. They are not only more likely to experience discrimination and violence compared to the general population, but they also experience a disproportionate amount of harm compared to those who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual.

According to the Human Dignity Trust, 65 countries criminalize sexuality. Additionally, 14 countries around the world specifically criminalize trans people. For transgender people, traveling internationally already comes with great risk. Without resources or guidance from the State Department, that risk becomes even greater.

Trump’s Long List of Anti-trans Policies

This edit of the State Department’s website is not isolated. In January, the Trump White House issued an executive order titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” The order directed federal agencies to remove references to trans people from government websites, among other actions. Since then, resources have been pulled for trans people relating to Social Security, tobacco use, and more. Some of these edits have begun excluding trans people from “LGB” resource pages. Other websites like the Labor Department and the Commerce Department have taken down LGBTQIA+-specific pages altogether.

This erasure of travel guidance is not the only way that the Trump White House is making it more difficult for trans Americans to travel. Trump has ordered the State Department to suspend all passport applications seeking to change gender markers, as well as discontinued the option for applicants to select “X” in place of “M” or “F.” “X” is a marker used to identify a person’s gender, serving as an alternative to selecting male or female. For any trans person who is in any phase of their transition, this directive is dangerous. According to the Advocates for Trans Equality, twenty-two percent of trans people report being verbally harassed, assaulted, or denied services after presenting ID that doesn’t align with their gender presentation.

The International Impact of an Anti-trans Agenda

The Trump White House’s anti-trans actions have made travel from the U.S. even more difficult for the trans community. However, these actions have also made it increasingly more dangerous for trans people to travel to the United States. As a result of the White House’s new policies, countries including Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Portugal have advised their trans citizens to avoid travel to the U.S.

The administration continues to attack trans lives, from passports to health care to sports. The list of executive orders that have inhumane effects on trans Americans is long, and so is the list of legal challenges filed in response to these orders.

Traveling while trans has always come with additional considerations, but the actions of the president have made traveling even more complicated and dangerous for a community of people under constant attack.

What are your thoughts on the removal of resources for trans Americans?

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