Anyone who opts for a gender-neutral ‘X’ marker on their passport should be aware of restrictions in some countries, Human Rights and Integration Directorate director Silvan Agius said, pointing out that travel to such places was at one’s own risk.

Equality Minister Helena Dalli introduced the X on Tuesday, describing it as another positive change that made it easier for people to be themselves.

As of this week, anyone not wishing to specify their gender on identification documents can opt for the neutral X. The change only requires a sworn statement signed by a notary.

READ: ID cards and passports go gender-neutral

While a number of countries, including Germany, Australia and Canada, have implemented using the letter X and others recognise it, some countries may have strict rules that discriminate against members of the LGBTIQ community, Mr Agius said.

This is not something new, and it’s up to those travelling to know and understand the rules at the destination

He explained that while there could be problems of discrimination in some countries, it was up to those travelling to ensure they would not confront them.

“Passports are not used as a way to identify one’s gender, this is secondary.

“In these places, even without the X, if a person identifies as male but his sex is listed as female on the passport, there is a chance he may face some problems.

“This is not something new, and it’s up to those travelling to know and understand the rules at the destination,” Mr Agius said.

He pointed out that while gender-neutral identification documents have just been introduced locally, the use of the X has long been in use, especially in cases where a passport is issued in an emergency.

“If someone needs a passport issued quickly, say because of a medical emergency, and one’s gender is not clear, then the X would be used,” Mr Agius said.

While he added that it was always important to know if the place one is travelling to poses any risk, Mr Agius insisted it did not come about because of the introduction of the neutral X.

Regarding security checks by the authorities at airports and elsewhere, Mr Agius said the gender on identification documents did not determine who carried out the checks. It depended on which gender one identified as.

“The person who carries out the checks depends on what makes sense, and every case is different. A person identifying as a woman may have the gender on the ID card listed as male, but it will still be a woman officer who carries out the check,” he said.

Dr Dalli heralded the introduction of the X designation as another positive change in policy that made it easier for people to identify themselves as they wish.

She insisted that those who did not identify as male or female need not be treated as “second-class citizens”.

The move comes two months after the marriage equality act was approved, making registrants gender neutral through the removal of gender-specific terms.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.