Transgender and nonbinary individuals are urged to contact the US embassy before embarking on a trip to the US
Finland, Denmark, and Germany have issued warnings to transgender and nonbinary individuals traveling to the US, which under President Donald Trump has enacted a policy recognizing only two sexes.
Since taking office, Trump has issued multiple orders affirming this new approach and has directed the Health Department to clarify sex-based definitions. The new guidance defines sex as an immutable biological trait and states that individuals should be classified strictly as male or female.
An update on the Danish Foreign Ministry’s US travel page posted on Thursday advises trans individuals to contact the US embassy in Copenhagen before traveling.
“If your passport has the gender designation X or you have changed gender, it is recommended to contact the US embassy prior to travel for guidance on how to proceed,” the Danish Foreign Ministry’s page reads.
The change on Denmark’s travel page came about a week after Finland made a similar update. While it doesn’t explicitly reference Trump’s executive order, the advisory notes “there are two gender designations to choose from: male or female” when applying for a visa or Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) approval.
The German Federal Foreign Office, in its updated travel guidance, also warned that US visa and ESTA applications require selecting either “male” or “female.” Berlin also advised whose gender is marked X or whose gender differs from their sex assigned at birth to consult the American authorities about entry requirements before traveling.
The advisory comes as the US State Department has suspended a policy allowing trans, nonbinary, and intersex Americans to update the sex designations on their passports. US passport holders were previously able to self-select their sex, with one option being the letter X denoting that a person’s gender is unspecified.
For years, the US had moved away from traditional gender identity standards, including replacing ‘mother’ and ‘father’ with ‘parent one’ and ‘parent two,’ and established protections for transgender rights and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs under former US President Joe Biden’s administration. Last year, the Vermont Department of Health even recommended using gender-neutral terms such as ‘child’ or ‘kid’ instead of ‘son’ or ‘daughter’ to promote inclusive language.
Since assuming office Trump has rolled back trans rights protections and ended federal support for medical operations related to sex change procedures for minors to protect them from “chemical and surgical mutilations.”
In a series of executive orders, Trump also barred “radical gender ideology” in the military and banned trans women from female sports. There are also plans to block transgender athletes from competing in US-hosted events, including the 2028 Olympics and World Cup.
