Euphoria actor Hunter Schafer, who is a prominent transgender woman working in Hollywood, was given a "harsh reality check" after her new passport was issued with an "M" for male even though she selected female when initially filing paperwork.
The 26-year-old, who rarely engages on TikTok, made an eight-minute video to spread awareness about Republican President Donald Trump enacting transphobic policies, one of which includes U.S. citizens selecting one of two genders, male or female, on U.S. passports.
Schafer previously held an "I'll believe it when I see it" approach to Trump's declarations about cracking down on anti-trans policies, chalking it up to him being "a lot of talk."
"I'm sure most of us remember on, I think, the first day of Trump's presidency, he signed an executive order to declare only two genders recognized by the state, male and female assigned at birth," said Schafer, referring to Trump's directive stating it was federal government policy to only recognize "two sexes, male and female."
His executive order has eliminated a previous option that allowed applicants to mark "other" or "X."
Schafer continued:
"As a result of this, which I wrote down because I want to get it right, the Bureau of Consular Affairs has frozen passport applications requesting a gender marker change or renewals or new applications with a gender marker deferring from an applicant's gender assigned at birth."
Here is her TikTok video.
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Schafer explained she had to get a replacement passport when her old one was stolen during a trip to Barcelona.
The actor noted she first legally changed her gender marker when she was a teenager and got her driver's license, followed by other legal documents with her identifying female gender marker, with no problems.
She continued:
“I’m not making this post to fear-monger, or to create drama, or receive consolation, I don’t need it. But I do think it’s worth posting to sort of note the reality of the situation and that it’s happening."
"I was shocked. I just didn’t think it was actually going to happen. I want to acknowledge my privilege, not only as a celebrity transwoman who is white… I pass, and it still happened."
"No one, no matter how wealthy or white or pretty or whatever is excluded. I don’t give a f'k that they put an ‘M’ on my passport. It doesn’t change really anything about me or my transness, however, it does make life a little harder."
"I’m pretty sure it’s gonna come along with having to out myself to border patrol agents…much more often than I would like to or is really necessary. And thinking about other trans women or other trans people who this might be happening to.”
"Trans people are beautiful. We are never going to stop existing. I'm never gonna stop being trans. A letter and a passport can't change that. And f'k this administration,” she added.
The internet denounced Trump's doubling down on his erasure of trans people.
Under the previous administration led by former democratic President Joe Biden, Americans had the option to select "X" on their passports since April 2022.
With Trump's new executive order, the secretaries of the State Department, Department of Homeland Security, and the Office of Personnel Management will require that government ID documents, including visas, passports, and Global Entry cards, "accurately reflect the holder's sex."
The "two sexes" executive order also prohibits the government from using terms like "gender identity" and instead favors gender sex assigned at birth.
It also states:
"Federal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology. Each agency shall assess grant conditions and grantee preferences and ensure grant funds do not promote gender ideology."
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) nonprofit advocacy organization argues that "gender ideology is not a term transgender people use to describe themselves, it is an inaccurate term deployed by opponents to undermine and dehumanize transgender and nonbinary people."
