‘WE STAND WITH HER’: Hunter Schafer calls out the transphobic change made to her new passport
Donald Trump’s administration has enacted their executive order, stating there are only two genders. The order “recognize[s] women are biologically female, and men are biologically male.” Essentially, it does not matter what you identify as, but what you were born as. Euphoria star and activist Hunter Schafer has confirmed this.
On her TikTok stories, Schafer posted a video detailing how her passport was stolen and that she needed to get a new one. However, after she finally received her new passport in the mail recently, her gender marker had been changed. Since she has been identifying as female for over the past decade, she figured her replacement passport would just be updated to reflect its new expiration date. Unfortunately, it was not.
On X (formerly Twitter) Pop Base posted Schafer’s video and a brief transcript.
Hunter Schafer speaks on the changes made to her passport
In the video, with sensitive information hidden, Schafer revealed the passport. Despite not changing her gender at all in the process, her new passport now bears a male gender marker.
“I’m not making this post to fear-monger, or to create drama, or receive consolation, I don’t need it,” she said in her story. “But I do think it’s worth posting to sort of note the reality of the situation and that it’s happening. I was shocked. I just didn’t think it was actually going to happen.”
Her statement reflects how much of the U.S. feels. I myself also thought, surely these things won’t actually happen. Somebody has to stop them. Right? I suppose I forgot that there is nobody to stop them when there is nobody with a conscience in power able to do so.
Schafer went on to add, “I want to acknowledge my privilege, not only as a celebrity transwoman who is white […] I pass, and it still happened. […] No one, no matter how wealthy or white or pretty or whatever is excluded. […] I don’t give a f**k 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. I’m pretty sure it’s gonna come along with having to out myself to border patrol agents […] much more often than I would like to or is really necessary.”
This really is just the beginning
Schafer has been one of the most visible and outspoken trans celebrities in recent years. Her success is proof that it shouldn’t matter what you identify as. Unfortunately, though, it is not surprising that the gender ruling was one of the promises Trump was quick to follow through on. (But not the economy, god forbid he helps with that!) Schafer’s passport chance also hints at the future of the United States over the next four years under Trump’s administration.
On X, users were quick to side with Shafer, with one saying “WE STAND WITH HER.”
Schafer also theorized that, since she had not made the passport marker change herself and never actually changed her gender on her birth certificate, that government employees are now required to check a person’s records to verify their gender. So much for a free country, huh?
This just goes to prove that nobody is truly safe anymore if they don’t adhere to this administration’s ideals. Cruelty, as a few additional users pointed out on X, is a driving factor. Any way to further marginalize people. They sign these orders because they can–who’s going to actually stop them?
Though Schafer said she doesn’t want to fear-monger, we need transparency like this especially from high-profile people such as her. Rights are at stake, and danger is rising.
“Trans people are beautiful,” Schafer said at the end of her video. “We are never going to stop existing.”
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