As promised, I ventured to the New York Travel and Adventure show, where LGBTQ travelers were given a pavilion of our own sponsored by I Love New York. Their travel brochure makes subtle note of queer-friendly things to do, from visiting the historic Stonewall Inn (both the bar and the NPS monument outside) to update towns like Ithaca that are renowned for inclusivity. Wandering the convention floor, I spotted a handful of rainbow flags (visit Ptown, I see you, I love you, I miss you. Maybe this summer?). Most notable: the handful of Florida DMO's demonstrating their solidarity with LGBT travelers (and want for our pink dollar) – and the many Florida DMO's that were rainbow-less. In a time when our identities have been politicized, and will increasingly continue to be, not putting out a rainbow flag sends a loud and clear signal that you cosign Don't Say Gay.
Aside from the Keys, I don't remember which specific Florida towns rolled out the rainbow mat, because I've had too many terrible vacations in Florida (as I shared with Fodor's, and AFAR) to want to return, except heist-style, one last time, to cross off any Florida National Parks I haven't yet seen and visit the Tropical Botanical Garden when mangos are in season.
Where we travel matters, especially in these times. When our choices are being stripped from us by bigoted politicians, we still get to choose where we travel and who we support with our travel dollars.
Think we should go to Florida anyway because...?
Write back and tell me why.
Hot Takes on Queer News
Week one in office, Trump signed an executive order declaring it official policy of the U.S. government to recognize only two sexes, male and female, period the end, sex was “not changeable.”
The executive order requires that federal documents like passports, visas, and Global Entry cards, operate using the binary definition of sex outlined in the order.
The State Department has suspended processing passport applications requesting an “X” gender marker. If you have a pending passport application with an X gender marker, you'll receive a passport with an M or F, sorry to say.
If you already have a US passport with an X gender marker, the State Department says guidance is “coming soon.”
This move raises a lot of questions—and concerns. Will current gender X passport holders be grandfathered in, proving the lie of binary gender every time they pass through airports? Will their passports be canceled, and replaced with M/F documentation? And what if the state where they live in legally allowed third-gender identification, so now their driver's license and their passport don't match?
If you hold a nonbinary “X” marker passport, could it be confiscated or invalidated while traveling internationally?
It's too early to say.
But we can look at what's happened in states that have U-turned away from recognizing variant genders and doubled down on the gender binary.
Like (look it's my fave again!) Florida.
Florida’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles decided that "misrepresenting one's gender" constituted fraud and announced they would no longer allow Florida residents to change the gender marker on their license.
A transgender woman who'd done so had her driver’s license canceled.
Texas and Kansas have implemented similar measures.
It's straightforward for one state agency, like a DMV, to police the gender binary and revoke documentation from nonconformists and trans folks. It's a larger, more complex issue to get the federal government to do much of anything efficiently, especially when Trump is in the mix.
Stopping processing X gender passports is just the beginning; this executive order is going to take time to roll out.
If you have an X gender passport, brace yourself. Details on implementation are murky, the stakes are high, and for now, it's a waiting game.
The TSA already gives extra scrutiny to people who don't pass as cis male and female – and to folks traveling with an incorrect gender marker. Twenty-one states plus DC currently allow X gender driver's licenses; traveling domestically with one of these may bring extra scrutiny.
Traveling while trans, nonbinary, or gender nonconforming is already fraught with anxiety. Or, since Trump insists we call it “sex” instead of “gender,” should I say sex nonconforming? Either way, this policy adds one more layer of stress to an already exhausting experience.
My heart aches for folks who have an X gender passport and are now caught in the middle of Trump's petty agenda.
Because it is petty. And, to use one of his favorite words, it's sad to see powerful men close their eyes and declaring, “If I don’t like it, it doesn’t exist.”
Executive orders like this to the contrary, Trump and his cronies can't magic us out of existence.
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