Hunter Schafer revealed that she was misgendered on her new passport.
Back in January, former reality TV host and convicted felon Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.
During his inaugural speech, he rehashed his troubling campaign talking points, made a bevvy of conservative pledges and notably targeted the trans community.
“As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female,” he said.
Staying true to his hateful and anti-LGBTQIA+ words, Trump has issued several executive orders that have negatively impacted the lives of trans people across the United States – including one of the most notable trans actresses in Hollywood, Schafer.
On Friday (19 February), the Euphoria star took to social media to reveal that she was misgendered on her new passport.
“So, 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 recognised by the state, male and female assigned at birth,” she said.
After reviewing the EO, Schafer admitted that she initially doubted Trump’s policy, adding: “Because our president is a lot of talk, [I] was like, ‘I’ll believe it when I see it.”
She then showcased her newly issued passport, which featured a ‘male’ gender marker.
“And today I saw it on my new passport. Now, to specify, my gender markers were first changed in my teens, when I first got my driver’s license and then passports following, all have been female since then. [It] hasn’t really been a problem,” she continued.
“However, last year, when I was filming in Barcelona, our car got broken into, and my bag got stolen and inside of that my passport, which was supposed to last me up until my 30s and so I got an emergency passport, which was very simple at the time, it’s basically just a copy of my old passport but temporary and only supposed to be used within the year.”
@csbvkjbvjkbkjjvkfsjkposted/deleted this last night because i wanted to make a more concise/well spoken thing but it’s out in the world! so putting it back heree
The Hunger Games star then revealed that upon her return to the US, she began the process of requesting a new passport, filling out the paperwork, and marking her gender as ”female.’
“I’m not making this post to fearmonger 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 is actually happening,” she continued.
“And I was shocked. I was shocked because I didn’t, I don’t know. I just didn’t think it was actually going to happen.”
Elsewhere in her video, Schafer “acknowledged her privilege” as a “celebrity transwoman” before theorising about the new process agencies are following.
“I never had my birth certificate changed, so this has led me to believe that– I think the agencies who are in charge of passports and this sort of thing are now required to cross reference birth certificates or, I don’t know exactly what changed as far as the processing goes, but this is the first time this has happened to me since I changed my gender marker,” she explained.
“We’re coming up on a decade now, or something. And I do believe it is a direct result of the administration our country is currently operating under. And I guess I’m just sort of scared of the way this stuff slowly gets implemented.”
While Schafer exclaimed that her new passport doesn’t change anything about her identity or transness, she admitted that it will make life “a little harder.”
“Personally, I haven’t tested it out yet. I’ll find out next week when I have to travel abroad with my new passport, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to come along with having to out myself to like border patrol agents and that whole gig much more often than I would like to or is really necessary,” she said.
“And this is just my personal circumstance, and thinking about other trans women who this might also be happening to, or other trans people, the list only gets longer as far as the intricacies that come along with the difficulty that this brings into real life shit.”
Towards the end of her video, Schafer delivered a powerful and defiant message in response to the hateful anti-trans changes taking shape in the US.
“Trans people are beautiful. We are never going to stop existing. I am never going to stop being trans, a letter on a passport can’t change that. And f**k this administration.”
As previously mentioned, Trump has wasted no time issuing archaic executive orders that largely target LGBTQIA+ rights, DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) and migrants.
Fortunately, the community is fighting back through the law. Click here to read about all the LGBTQIA+ lawsuits (we know of) that have been filed against the Trump administration.
Latest
