CBP Enforces Binary Sex Codes and Enhanced US Passport Validation in APIS
Sex Field Requirements: Effective Oct. 14, 2025, CBP systems will only accept “M” (Male) or “F” (Female) in the sex field of APIS transmissions. Any other characters will result in an “X Response-Insufficient Information” error, requiring airlines to resubmit the passenger data with corrected information.
it sounds deceptively binary, but is a holistic concept: not switching, but cutting off parts to fit into a system that denies medical and historical facts of intersex and transex existance.
Hence violence. Not a lightswitch. Definitely free speech/agency canaries. Again, historically.
So (if I read you right) the violence isn’t done by those that try to pass to avoid negative consequences, but by those that 1. enforce those negative consequences and those that 2. force IDs to fit into their artificial binary.
That makes sense. Thank you for clarifying.
Anecdote that helps me relate to the concept you described: A friend of mine has an extra pinky finger and it used to bother me–like, why hadn’t she had a surgical intervention so her hands more closely matched my concept of normal? Then I realized I should be happy that she didn’t feel the need to cut off a part of herself to fit in. Like my friend’s pinky, trans folk existing isn’t hurting anyone.
1+2: Yes. Comprehension achieved.
I like your anecdote and think it will help others. Thanks for putting in some effort!