Hunter Schafer says "it's important to just keep track of where things are in our country," a day after the Euphoria star posted a video in which she revealed her new passport had been issued with a male gender marker.
Speaking to The Associated Press on the red carpet at the Independent Spirit Awards over the weekend, the 26-year-old actor, who is trans, said she felt "it was a good, necessary point" to share. Schafer, also a presenter at the award show, was nominated for best lead performance for Cuckoo.
United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office instituting a new and narrow federal government definition of the sexes. As part of the order, the federal government defines sex as only male or female and says that must be reflected on official documents, like passports.
Watch the video above.
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Hunter Schafer, pictured here at the Film Independent Spirit Awards over the weekend, is speaking out about being issued a male passport. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)READ MORE: 'I thought my life was over': Aussie star's vulnerable confession
The State Department, responsible for passports, is no longer issuing passports with the "X" marker that's been available since 2021 and is not honouring requests to change gender markers between "M" and "F."
In an eight-and-a-half-minute video posted to TikTok on Friday (Saturday in Australia), Schafer, who transitioned as a young teen, said the passport that was meant to carry her well into her 30s was stolen while she was filming in Spain.
After receiving an emergency passport, she later had to apply for a new, permanent one in Los Angeles.
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Having had female gender markers on her license and passport since she was a teenager, Schafer marked "female" on her application – but received a passport that identified her as male, she said.
In the video, she said she had not had her birth certificate amended.
Schafer acknowledged the executive order in her TikTok video: "Because our president, you know, is a lot of talk, I was like, 'I'll believe it when I see it.' And, today, I saw it," Schafer said, holding up her new passport page with the "M" marker.
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She said she was making the video not to "fearmonger or like create drama or receive consolation," but to note the reality of the situation.
"I wasn't even really looking for support, but I have an amazing community around me and it's one of the greatest blessings of my life and so I felt very supported throughout, before and then now," she told the AP over the weekend.
The State Department said in response to a request for comment that it was implementing Trump's executive order but declined to comment on specific cases, citing privacy laws and restrictions.
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Schafer made a TikTok video explaining the implications of her passport being issued with a male marker. (TikTok/@csbvkjbvjkbkjjvkfsjk)
In the video, Schafer held up her new passport, which had a clear M where F, for her, is meant to be. (TikTok/@csbvkjbvjkbkjjvkfsjk)READ MORE: K-pop superstar had been famous for years but no one had ever seen her like this
"It doesn't really change anything about me or my transness. However, it does make my life a little harder," Schafer said in the video, saying she has to travel for the first time with the new passport next week.
"Trans people are beautiful. We are never going to stop existing. I'm never going to stop being trans. A letter and a passport can't change that," she concluded.
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