The German Reichstag in Berlin in 2022. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
The German government has issued a travel advisory for transgender and nonbinary people who are planning to visit the U.S.
The Rheinische Post, a German newspaper, reported the advisory the German Federal Foreign Office issued on March 5 specifically notes President Donald Trump’s executive order that bans the State Department from issuing passports with “X” gender markers.
“The relevant gender identity of the applicant at the time of birth is the relevant one,” reads the German Federal Foreign Office advisory. “Travelers who have the ‘X’ gender marker or whose current gender entry differs from their gender identity at birth should contact the relevant U.S. diplomatic mission in Germany before entering the country and find out the applicable entry requirements.”
Germany’s Gender Self-Determination Act, which allows trans, nonbinary, and intersex people to legally change their name and gender through a simple declaration at a registrar’s office and then waiting three months, took effect last November.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio in response to Trump’s executive order directed State Department personnel to “suspend any application requesting an ‘X’ sex marker and do not take any further action pending additional guidance from the department.”
Trump on Feb. 5 issued an executive order that bans trans women and girls from female sports teams. The Guardian reported Rubio later instructed American consular officials to deny visas in “cases where applicants are suspected of misrepresenting their purpose of travel or sex”
“You should consider whether this misrepresentation is material such that it supports an ineligibility finding,” wrote Rubio in the Feb. 24 directive the Guardian said it obtained.
The newspaper further reported the directive directs consulate officials “to issue permanent visa bans against those who are deemed to misrepresent their birth sex on visa applications,” and to “apply Immigration and Nationality Act section 212(a)(6)(C)i) — the ‘permanent fraud bar’ — against trans applicants.”
“Unlike regular visa denials, this section triggers lifetime exclusion from the United States with limited waiver possibilities,” notes the Guardian.
A group of trans and nonbinary people last month filed a federal lawsuit against Trump’s passport directive.
The Lesbian and Gay Federation of Germany, a German LGBTQ and intersex rights group known by the acronym LSVD, in response to the Washington Blade’s request for comment on the German government’s travel advisory said it “strongly condemns the Trump administration’s latest attack on transgender and nonbinary people.”
“By erasing legal recognition of trans identities and forcing all official documents to reflect only sex assigned at birth, the U.S. government is actively endangering the rights and safety of trans and nonbinary individuals,” said LSVD in a statement. “The German government’s travel advisory warning trans and nonbinary travelers of potential entry issues is a necessary step — but it cannot be the only response.”
LSVD added Germany and the European Union “must make it clear: LGBTQ+ people are safe in the EU, and we will not tolerate the rollback of fundamental human rights anywhere in the world.”
“Our commitment to human rights must also be reflected in foreign policy,” said LSVD. “This includes using diplomatic channels to demand that the U.S. government respects trans rights, ensuring protections for asylum seekers, and strengthening international alliances to push back against anti-LGBTQ+ extremism.”
“The LSVD⁺ calls on the German government and EU institutions to take a firm stance and oppose these policies with all available means,” added the advocacy group in its statement. “Democracy and human rights cannot be selectively defended — when trans rights are attacked, all human rights are at risk.”
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