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     Washington announced Wednesday that it has issued the first "X" gender passport to a person who does not identify with traditional gender choices, fulfilling President Joe Biden's campaign promises.
 The U.S. State Department has "added an X box for non-binary, intersex people" and more broadly those who do not recognize themselves in the gender criteria proposed until now, announced government spokesman Ned Price on Wednesday, October 27.

This possibility will be available from January 2022, he said, reaffirming the commitment of U.S. diplomacy to "promote the freedom, dignity and equality of all people. At least 11 other countries, including Canada, Germany and Argentina, but also India or Pakistan, offer the choice "X" or "other" in their passports, according to the London-based international organization Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion.

On Wednesday, the first such passport was issued by the US administration.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken had already relaxed the rules in June by allowing U.S. citizens to choose their own gender on their passports. Previously, people who wanted to register a gender different from that on their birth certificate had to provide a medical certificate. Photo by Ian Taylor on Unsplash
A Democrat, Joe Biden has made it a priority to defend the rights of sexual minorities around the world, more than any other U.S. president before him and in a break with his predecessor Donald Trump. When he was Secretary of State for the Republican billionaire, Mike Pompeo had notably forbidden American embassies to display the rainbow flag, symbol of the LGBTQ community.