US citizens can now select gender neutral ‘X’ on their passport

US citizens can now select a gender-neutral ‘X’ on their passport in what has been hailed a “momentous step” for the country.

The State Department announced in June it would move toward adding a third gender marker and in October issued its first gender-neutral “X” passport. The option to select X came into force on Monday.

More than a million people are estimated to be nonbinary in the US with four million intersex, according to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law and interACT, an intersex advocacy group.

The US special diplomatic envoy for LGBTQ rights, Jessica Stern said the introduction of a new gender indication was a “momentous step”.

In comments reported by CBS, Ms Stern said: “The addition of a third gender marker propels the US forward toward ensuring that our administrative systems account for the diversity of gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics among US citizens.

"The issuance of X gender markers on US passports does not create new definitions nor rights. This policy change recognises the true identity of the passport holder.

"The lived realities of transgender, intersex, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming persons reflect that there is a wider spectrum of humanity than is represented by a binary sex designation on passports.”

Despite the decision, 14 states require proof of genital surgery in order to update the gender indication on a birth certificate.

On Friday, Alabama also signed into law two controversial bills relating to gender.

One criminalises healthcare providers who offer gender-affirming care to transgender youths and another which requires students to use bathrooms that match the gender on their birth certificates.