Crescentia Volz considers themself lucky they changed the gender marker on their federal passport to an “X” two years ago.
Volz, of Holtwood, wouldn’t be able to do so now, following President Donald Trump’s executive order declaring the U.S. government only recognizes two sexes – male and female.
The string of executive orders targeting transgender individuals and the multiple lawsuits challenging them has created an atmosphere of uncertainty for Volz and others like them.
Volz said they don’t plan on taking any cross-country trips anytime soon. They worry about getting stranded at their destination without a way to get back to Lancaster County.
“There’s no guarantee – with the way things are going – that if I got in an airplane today and was able to fly over to California that by the time I’m ready to come back, they won’t have changed that,” they said.
But LGBTQ+ advocates in and around Lancaster County say transgender Pennsylvanians can still identify as they choose at the state level, and in some ways, with their federal ID.
Here’s a guide to what transgender Pennsylvanians can and can’t do with their documents.
Passports and Social Security
Regardless of their identity, Americans now must select their sex assigned at birth when applying or renewing their federal ID.
Trump’s day one directive restoring “biological truth to the federal government” means the State Department and Social Security Administration no longer accept applications to change gender markers — the M and F symbols shown on IDs or kept on file.
The X symbol, available since 2021 for passports, is no longer an option for nonbinary people.
Laura Sabatini, the director of operations at Lancaster County Chooses Love, said dozens of people have come to the organization with questions about what will happen to their passports.
“Even people who work in the federal government and work in passports don’t know what they are or aren’t allowed to do,” she said.
The passports of people like Volz who use the X gender marker should remain valid until it’s time to renew under current guidelines (passports typically expire 10 years after issue). The ACLU has already filed a federal lawsuit challenging the order, though it’s uncertain when the public will see an outcome.
Corinne Goodwin, the executive director of the Eastern Pennsylvania Trans Equity Project, said transgender people can and should travel despite the changes.
“Transgender people have been moving around through society and been traveling internationally and getting their social security benefits for decades and decades and decades and decades and decades,” Goodwin said, “and we’re going to continue to do so.”
Despite the looming federal actions, Volz said they won’t change their openness, for now.
“I can go undetected if I don’t show myself,” Volz said, referring to the fact they were born a woman and are married to a man. “I’m not planning on doing that.”
Even if transgender people can’t travel with the right gender marker, they can still apply to use a new name on federal ID after going through Pennsylvania’s legal name change process.
Both the Trans Equity Project and Lancaster County Chooses Love offer name-change clinics for transgender Pennsylvanians. Goodwin said her organization served around 650 people last year. Lancaster County Chooses Love started its first round last year with 15 people, aided by local lawyers donating their time pro bono.
Driver’s licenses
Trump’s order can’t dictate how states handle identity documents, like driver’s licenses, REAL IDs and birth certificates.
PennDOT allows drivers of any age to apply online to change their gender marker to M, F or X — an option introduced in 2020.
Applicants don’t need proof of their gender or sex, like a doctor’s note, to make the change. Pennsylvania is one of only 21 states that doesn’t require health provider information, according to Movement Advancement Project, a think tank that works on equality and equal opportunity issues.
People can fill out a printed form and submit it at a PennDOT Driver License Center in-person to make the change. There’s no fee.
Four Republican state senators sponsored a bill in early February that would restrict state-issued IDs like driver’s licenses from using gender markers not aligned with a person’s sex assigned at birth. The bill currently awaits consideration in the State Government Committee.
Sabatini said she doesn’t think that change is coming any time soon, with a Democratic governor and a split state Legislature.
“Right now we have a governor who is a great ally, so we don’t see things changing. We’re pretty sure that Josh Shapiro would veto something like that,” she said.
Birth certificates
Transgender Pennsylvanians can apply to change their birth certificate to an M or F gender marker with a notarized form by mail. There’s no X option. Only 16 states provide the nonbinary category, according to the Movement Advancement Project.
For those under 18, parents must sign on to gender designation changes, but applicants don’t need to provide proof of gender-affirming care. For adults, applications require a physician’s letter confirming “the appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition has taken place.”
Neil Ruhland, the deputy press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Health, said the physician gets to decide what extent of care is appropriate.
Several stricter states require proof of genital reconstructive surgeries. Pennsylvania’s flexibility is to the transgender community’s advantage, according to Goodwin.
“You don’t have to prove that in Pennsylvania,” she said. “You just have to have had appropriate medical treatment, and that can be anything from, you told your doctor and your doctor’s cool with it, to hormonal care, to top surgery to the whole enchilada.”
Marriage licenses
Lancaster County marriage licenses identify members of a couple as applicants rather than by gender. Even so, people can self-describe as non-binary in the application process, according to Anne Cooper, the register of wills.
Only eight people who identified as nonbinary got married in Lancaster County in 2023, according to an annual report from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Lancaster County saw more than 3,000 marriages that year.
Read more from our partners, LNP/LancasterOnline.
