Actress Hunter Schafer says the listed gender on her passport has been changed.
Schafer, who is transgender, opened up about the incident in a recent TikTok video where she explained that after receiving a new passport, her gender had been changed from female to male.
"I had a bit of a harsh reality check today," she says in the video, explaining President Donald Trump's Jan. 20 executive order stating the United States government will only recognize a person's biological sex at birth. The order also revoked a 2022 Biden-era rule in which the Department of State made it possible for people applying for American passports to select "X" to mark their gender.
Schafer also referenced the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs policy under Trump's executive order, which states, in part: "We will no longer issue U.S. passports or Consular Reports of Birth Abroad (CRBAs) with an X marker. We will only issue passports with an M or F sex marker that match the customer's biological sex at birth."
"My initial reaction to this, because our president is a lot of talk, was like, 'I'll believe it when I see it,' and today, I saw it on my new passport," Schafer says in the video, showing the new passport.
Schafer said her passport gender marker was first marked as female after she received her driver's license in her teens. She said all her passports since have had her gender listed as female. According to Schafer, the change "hasn't really been a problem" until now.
The "Euphoria" actress said her passport was stolen while she was filming in Barcelona, after which she was given a temporary passport.
"As soon as I got back to the States, I had to get this fixed and get it replaced with a real, proper passport, which I went to the Federal Passport Agency today in LA and did. I've had to do this one time before. No part of the process was different. I filled everything out just like I normally would. I put female, and when it was picked up today and I opened it up, they had changed the marker to male," she said.
Schafer continued, "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 and that it is actually happening."
She said she was "shocked" at the outcome.
Schafer said in the video that she never had her gender changed on her birth certificate. She also said she wanted to acknowledge her privilege as a white celebrity who can adhere to contemporary beauty standards.
"I do believe it is a direct result of the administration our country is currently operating under, and I guess I'm just sort of scared of the way this stuff slowly gets implemented," she said.
"There's a lot of talk, and then things start happening, and we start to normalize the circumstances we're under. And I just feel like it's important to share that it's not just talk, that this is real, and it's happening and no one, no matter their circumstance, no matter how wealthy or white or pretty or whatever, is excluded," Schafer added.
She said the new passport marker would not change anything about her identity.
"I don't go give a f--- that they put an M on my passport. It doesn't change really anything about me or my transness. However, it does make life a little harder," she said.
Schafer said she would be traveling abroad for the first time with her new passport next week, and said she suspects the new gender marker will create situations where she'll have to out herself to Border Patrol agents and others "more often than I would like to or is really necessary."
"I just want to say trans people are beautiful. We are never going to stop existing. I'm never gonna stop being trans. A letter and a passport can't change that," she said.
"I don't really have an answer on what to do about this, but I feel it was important to share this is real," she added.
The State Department told ABC News it doesn't comment on specific cases due to privacy laws and restrictions. A State Department spokesperson referred to the executive order stating it's U.S. policy to acknowledge only two sexes, and that documents must match the applicant's sex as defined in the president's January order.
Passports previously issued with an X marker will remain valid until their expiration, or individuals holding an X passport can get theirs replaced for free with one that lists their sex assigned at birth if the passport was issued less than a year ago, according to the spokesperson.
Earlier this month, seven people filed a federal lawsuit challenging Trump's executive order declaring the U.S. government would only recognize a person's sex assigned at birth on government-issued documents.
ABC News has reached out to representatives for Schafer and U.S. Customs and Border Protection for comment.
