WASHINGTON (Reuters] – Americans can choose an X as their gender in passport applications starting on April 11th, the U.S. State Department announced on Thursday. This announcement comes amid attempts by states to harass transgender individuals and the Biden administration’s “Transgender Day of Visibility”.

According to the State Department, citizens of the United States can select their gender in applications. The State Department issued America’s first passport that included an “X”, which is a gender marker. This was to provide non-binary, transgender, or gender-nonconforming citizens with a different marker than the male and female markers on travel documents.

In a statement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that U.S. citizens can now select an “X” as their gender marker starting April 11. The option will also be available next year for documentation forms.

Biden’s administration announced the change as one of many measures, just a day after Arizona and Oklahoma Republican governors signed laws banning transgender girls from school sports.

These states joined an increasing number of others that had passed similar laws or adopted them on the same issue in an election year. In recent years, transgender rights were a key issue in the cultural wars in the United States.

The White House stated that it had condemned the “proliferation of dangerous anti-transgender legislation attacks” in its statement about the initiatives the White House would pursue to remove barriers facing transgender persons.

The goals include making travel easier, providing support for transgender children, their families and improving access to federal services.

Every American should be free to express themselves. The White House stated that transgender Americans face many systemic obstacles, discrimination and violence.