“Lots of people get name changes, but the order I gave them had nothing to do with gender. I did sign California’s form clarifying what you want to appear on your driver’s license, but I didn’t bring that with me. I just brought my California ID, which has a female gender marker on it, with me,” says Fox.
Things with the passport officials went downhill from there. “I started asking for clarity and asking if I would be allowed to travel out of the country, and they said they didn’t have answers for me,” Fox says. “I had been chatting with one of the LA Passport Agency security guards the day before—as a general vibe, I try to socialize in these kinds of situations and get a good feel for what’s going on—and he told me he would contact his sergeant, who would talk to the supervisor and see if they would speak with me.”
In time, the supervisor confirmed that Fox would not be given her new passport—nor the identification documentation she’d submitted, including her birth certificate. When Fox asked when those things would be returned, and how she would be able to travel or leave the country if necessary, the answer she received was: “We don’t have any answers, we’ll have to get back to you.” Fox then asked what would happen if she decided to stay and wait for an answer that day—only to be told that the LA Passport Agency would call the police to arrest her for trespassing.
The US State Department declined to comment on the record for this story, but Congressman Ted Lieu, who represents the district of Los Angeles in which the passport agency is located, offered the following statement to Vogue:
“A society is measured by how it treats its most vulnerable members. That’s why reports of trans people facing obstacles in obtaining passports due to the Trump Administration’s recent executive order are deeply alarming. This policy, which mandates federally issued documents reflect a person’s birth sex, is not only unnecessary—it’s deliberately harmful. It creates needless bureaucratic hurdles and fosters uncertainty for trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming individuals who are simply trying to live their lives.“
He continued: “While my office’s casework team has not yet heard directly from anyone impacted by this order, we stand ready to assist any constituent facing federal documentation issues. Everyone deserves equal access to government services, free from discrimination and undue hardship. I’m grateful to be from a state like California, where civil rights protections are among the strongest in the country. At a time when fundamental freedoms are under attack, that commitment to equality matters more than ever.”
