Hunter Schafer, the trans actress best known for her role in the HBO hit drama series ‘Euphoria’, has condemned the President Donald Trump administration after discovering that her newly issued passport lists her gender as ‘Male’.
Schafer, who has had identity documents marked female for nearly a decade, expressed her frustration in an 8.34-minute TikTok video on Thursday. Schafer explained that she was forced to renew her passport after it was stolen last year. However, upon receiving the new document, she was surprised to find her gender marker changed to ‘M’ – male.
“I filled everything out just like I normally would. I put female, and when I picked it up today and opened it, they had changed the marker to male,” she said, holding up the passport to the camera.
Schafer attributed the change to policies implemented under President Donald Trump, who issued executive orders restricting the recognition of gender diversity. His administration mandated that official U.S. documents, including passports, recognize only male and female genders, eliminating the option for non-binary markers.
In the video, the star went on to say, “I’m not making this post to fearmonger, or to create drama or receive consolation. I don’t need it. But I do think it’s worth posting to sort of note the reality of the situation.”
Schafer added, “I was shocked. I guess I’m just sort of scared of the way this stuff gets slowly implemented because things just sort of start happening, as we’ve seen in historical rises in fascism,” she continued. “I just feel like it’s important to share that it’s not just talk.”
According to the State Department’s website, under an executive order described as targeting “Gender Ideology Extremism,” passport applicants must now use the gender listed on their birth certificate.
Schafer, who has not changed the gender marker on her birth certificate, speculated that passport agencies are now required to cross-check birth records.
In her post, the actress further added that she doesn’t care “that they put an M on my passport; it doesn’t change anything about me or my transness. However, it does make life a little harder…”
Schafer remained resolute in her response, emphasizing that government policies cannot erase transgender identities. “Trans people are never going to stop existing. I’m never gonna stop being trans, a letter in a passport can’t change that. And f*** this administration,” she said in her video.
