ALL THE PLACES YOU CAN’T GO
CW: discrimination and harassment
Euphamia Mature
Last week, I slammed recent “X” gender rulings around the world as a nonbinary person from America with a precarious “legal gender” situation. While my state ID lists “X”, my federal documents, including my passport, remain “male” for a number of complicated reasons. My article summarized policy changes in the last two years regarding alternatives to male and female gender markers on identification documents, I shared my own gender journey and nonbinary transition, and warned against the expansion of the gender binary into a tertiary rather than the abolishment of it. In the end, I regret having changed my gender even on a state level to “X”, for my name, alongside every other trans person who has pursued federal document changes, now lives on a convenient list in possession of a dangerous fascist. This article will serve as a continuation of my legal gender criticisms, focusing on the complications of travel for trans people, especially those with nonbinary documentation.
A BIRTHDAY MESSAGE FULL OF TRANS JOY
Before I begin, let’s celebrate some trans joy on behalf of my 26th birthday and the end of Pride Month. Dutchies, I know you have all of July and August, but some of us (me) enjoy being able to say they were a gay baby from the start. I previously wrote about the evolution of my gender, from the Hello Kitty obsessed 6 year old to the teenage nonbinary tumblr girlie with a purple undercut and ending as the genderfuck girlboy now proudly 3 years on estrogen and exceedingly alive. Perhaps I am vain, but I also know the importance of being loud and visible in my joy. It is a privilege to age as a trans person, and 26 is young, I know, but there was a long period of time where I did not imagine such a life was possible. I consistently must remind myself that I am in fact alive, that all of this is real. For every trans person reading this, it is never too late to start living your goddamn life. The world is so much better because we are in it. You have to live, despite all of the bullshit, you have to live and live loudly.
I spent my 26th between two of my favorite cities, celebrating with new friends and calling old ones alike. The beauty of a nomadic life is the community you build everywhere, and I am lucky to have formed some pretty amazing relationships on just about every continent (South America, I am coming for you next!). In Paris, I jumped into the Seine river on the hottest day in France’s recorded history; until another day breaks the record next week, this heatwave brought to you by Shell! Climbing the outside of the bridge and letting go, I did not plummet but ascended, for this was a singularly ridiculous act that I did as Euphamia Mature, a girlboy whom I have crafted by hand, chiseling flesh like marble. I rode the number 6 metro line in the damp t-shirt of a boy back to his apartment, knowing that no government, no politician, nor billionaire that wrote a mediocre book series and won’t shut up on twitter, can ever take this kind of joy away from me. In Amsterdam, I ate my favorite Belgian fries while sat on the canal in the same spot I always do, remembering my first visit at 19 when I became possessed by the idea of moving here, obsessed with the queer anarchy and joy I saw. For the second year in a row, I celebrated my birthday at an all-pink bar, smoked overpriced and underwhelming tourist weed on the beach in Noordwijk, and I felt incredibly alive. At 25 I partied in Osaka with exchange students from Poland at The Pink, not knowing where I would end up next yet praying it would be Amsterdam. One year later I found myself drinking a frozen cocktail out of a ceramic bathtub with another trans girl in that very city and I knew, and still know, that this life is really worth living.
OH, THE PLACES YOU’LL GO
In my life, I have been extremely lucky to visit, study, and/or live in more than 20 countries, and while my experiences have largely been positive, existing in the world as a visibly genderqueer person certainly has its impacts, especially when you are always moving. My passport is currently under my deadname and lists “male” due to immigration complications and excessively growing transphobia in America. This has made travelling rather uncomfortable and outright dangerous in some contexts, especially the less I began to look like my passport photo.
My very first article for TRANS Magazine briefly alluded to past experiences with airport security. If you are not aware, some of those machines really can see all of your bits, and although modern technology generally produces a more “gingerbread” style image these days with significantly less detail than before, countless trans people, including myself, are often stopped and subjected to extra security checks because our bodies are flagged by TSA scans and agents alike. I have been repeatedly groped, heavily questioned, and called a liar and degenerate to my face in multiple countries just for existing in a trans body, and the policing of trans bodies does not end with airport security.
In Japan, my body was described as “inappropriate” and “unprofessional” and I was subject to extreme transphobia and social isolation from my colleagues. In Thailand, I had a woman furiously grab at my chest to “check if I belonged in the women’s restroom”. A gay bar in South Korea tried to deny me entry because women were not permitted to enter alone, and they would not relent until I showed them pre and post transition photos as well as multiple forms of ID. In Serbia I was objectified and at least mildly harassed at just about every rave and night club I went to by a seemingly endless amount of chasers. Every time I crossed the Serbo-Hungarian border to enter the Schengen, the border control agents insisted my passport was faked or stolen and did not relent until I showed them three different visas, my expired Pennsylvania state ID and my Oregon one as well as my university badge. These are just some highlights from the last 2 years alone.
My previous article also only highlighted “X” gender rulings from the last two years, but this list, of course, is not comprehensive. As of 2026, 19 countries fully recognize a third gender of some kind on federal documents:
Theoretically, this means any travellers with alternative gender markers on their passports should have no issue entering these countries regardless of their national origin. In reality, things are significantly more complicated. For example, while Bangladesh introduced a third gender option known as “hijra” in 2013, this is exclusively reserved for Bangladeshi nationals. While the government recognizes its own “hijra” citizens, they may not take kindly to foreign passports which list “X”. Homosexuality is also still illegal in the country, queer censorship is state-enforced, and there are no hate crime or discrimination protections. Other countries such as Botswana are equally unclear, as the government grants the right to self-determination, theoretically allowing for nonbinary identities, yet there is not a specific clause or any known citizens who are registered as “X” or other alternatives. In short, travelling while trans, especially with a nonbinary passport is extremely case-by-case and I recommend contacting an embassy and doing extensive research in advance.
While these 19 countries fully recognize nonbinary identities, at least domestically, this also does not mean nonbinary travellers may only visit these destinations. Denmark, Finland, Greenland, Norway, Sweden, and Thailand do not currently offer nonbinary documentation, yet other researchers have confirmed they are safe travel destinations for “X” gender foreigners and other trans travellers. In some instances, individuals may be subjected to binary selections upon entry, but will not be denied for having nonbinary passports. Travelling between certain countries may also serve as a work-around. For example, nonbinary travellers may avoid identity checks and pesky border control agents when traveling within the Schengen, regardless if they have an EU passport or not. One wishing to visit France for example, where legislation remains unclear, could safely do so by entry of the Netherlands by landing in Schiphol and taking a train or bus from there, bypassing the annoying French bureaucracy.
Other complicated cases include the US, where federal recognition was recently rescinded and is once again subject to the laws of individual states. When I eventually visit the US again to see my dearest friends and collect the rest of my belongings, I will likely do so via the Portland or Newark airports, as both Oregon and New Jersey have long-standing pro-trans legislation and I have community nearby in the event of an emergency. I would most certainly not, however, enter the country via any of the states where discrimination is legal and there are explicit policies banning the rights of trans people to exist in public, the most egregious examples being Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, Idaho, and Ohio. Again, if you are planning a road trip through the states anytime soon, I would recommend a similar strategy to the Schengen loophole.
AND ALL THE PLACES YOU CAN’T
While the list of countries which may or may not allow nonbinary passports easy entry is extensive and nuanced, here is a definitive list where nonbinary passport holders and any trans people in general are explicitly advised to avoid:
Afghanistan, Bahrain, Belarus, Bhutan, China, Gambia, Grenada, Hungary, Iran, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, St. Lucia, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Yemen, and Zambia.
This list is informed by extensive communications with numerous airlines, domestic and international policy analyses, and the combined efforts of organizations including Amnesty International, Equaldex, World Travel Protection, Riskline, and fellow nonbinary world traveller and blogger, Rory Buccheri. This list is also non-exhaustive and I would additionally advise against visiting any other countries which criminalize homosexuality, as being queer remains illegal in 62 countries and punishable by death in 7. These laws apply to visitors inconsistently and oftentimes include trans people as well.
WHAT IS TO BE DONE?
I recognize that we are far from a place of total legal gender abolition on an even remotely global scale, and I have now spent two articles vehemently critiquing what “progress” has been made for trans people internationally. I do not have a perfect answer, unfortunately, but I am certain it does not involve expanding the legal gender binary. I have offered plenty of my own opinions regarding genderqueer laws, so let’s hear from my dear friend J, a nonbinary Australian living in Japan.
Recent rulings in several Japanese low courts are currently debating both marriage equality and the addition of “X” gender markers for Japanese nationals. It was in this context that I asked J their opinions as an Australian, where “nonbinary” has been a term in legislation since the early 2000s.
“Even with it [nonbinary documentation] being possible as an Australian, I haven’t changed my assigned at birth gender as I enjoy travel, along with my family, and it can cause risks or inconveniences in other countries that don’t recognize nonbinary [identities]. I feel that being nonbinary has a different set of challenges to trans binary [people]. First is that there is no stealthing. You can pass as a binary gender, but to not be misgendered you have to come out to everyone, over and over again. Even in accepting circles, people still confirm your identity first. Because this is the nature of being nonbinary, I find myself more tolerable of misgendering towards myself as it is something I’ll deal with my whole life whether I’m in a safe place or not.”
I think J perfectly summarizes the issue with “recognizing” nonbinary people. The problem is that we still fundamentally exist in a world bound to an oppressive gender binary, and this is not changing anytime soon. Your home country may offer documentation that feels more authentic, but these policies do not reach beyond those borders, and in some cases, might not even extend outside of the providence, state, or region you live in. Just because you can proudly declare yourself as an alternative gender now also does not mean these same policies will apply under the next president or politician’s rule. See the case of America, where every pro-trans policy Biden passed or drafted was immediately struck down upon Trump’s re-entry into office, and these laws in fact triggered an extremely reactionary movement in the opposite direction. Everyone who managed to get a nonbinary US passport is now in limbo and every detail about them is defined by their nonbinary identity and controlled by a dangerous tyrant.
The fight for trans rights must be a global one. We are not free until we are all free, and even those of us in “free countries” are seeing rights stripped away at a rapid pace. Our efforts right now should be focused on the international sphere, pushing policies and protections at the transnational level through higher bodies of governance such as the UN. From an international perspective, your nonbinary gender marker means nothing at best and is an active target on your back in the worst cases. If you want to educate yourself more about these issues or participate in global forms of activism, I recommend checking out and donating to Global Action for Trans Equality, Outright International, the Asia Pacific Transgender Network, and Transgender Europe.
While I do not know what the “right” thing to do is, I know we have to do it together. Trans liberation and discrimination are not monoliths, they exist simultaneously everywhere in a multitude of ways. All of the countries mentioned above that trans foreigners are advised against visiting still house countless queer and trans siblings, and we owe it to them to fight for their freedoms as well as our own.
LIVE LOUD AND LIVE FREE
Travelling abroad as a trans person can be terrifying, and while I have personally had plenty of unwelcome experiences, I do not regret any trip I have taken nor do I allow these negative interactions to define my memories. Serbia might be full of chasers, but it was also in Belgrade that I met some of the coolest and bravest dykes I have ever known who made me feel truly welcome in a sapphic space for the first time in my life. The border control agents in Hungary can eat shit and die, but Budapest is home to an extremely diverse and lovely queer kink scene, and it was there that I met several other queer travellers who have quickly become life-long friends. And while the corporate world of Japan treated me like a monster, I miss my friends in Sapporo everyday, especially the DIY punk and screamo scene which is full of queers and radical alternatives alike. I recommend checking out Nobody Celebrates My Birthday and NO REST, featuring several good friends who are loudly pro-trans at every basement show and grungy bar they play.
I am doing my part by living loudly and without fear, pursuing the international life I have always wanted and sharing it with all of you. I have been harassed, hate-crimed, attacked, objectified, and subject to intense discrimination in every country I have ever been to, regardless of how “progressive” it may be. I do not say this to scare or discourage other trans people from doing the same, nor do I believe that there is some romance or honor in suffering and bravery. However, I have not nor will I ever allow any amount of transphobic legislation, public opinion, or psychotic dictator prevent me from living my goddamn life.
My name is Euphamia Claudia Yvonne Mature, I am a 26-year-old girlboy from Newark, New Jersey, my favorite color is neon green, my body belongs to me alone, I am not afraid of any fucking government, and I am alive. To every trans person reading this, I encourage you to live as loud as you can. Our visibility and our joy is an act of resistance, and we must resist together.
Mia Mature (they/she) is a genderfuck girliepop with a growing list of countries she wants to visit. If you have need of an overly-opinionated and well-travelled writer, policy analyst, performer, fashion icon, or are just looking for a cool new friend, she is desperately searching for a job and somewhere to live come August. They will be defending their master’s thesis about global queer sovereignty later this month and could still use more opinions on their survey. Her poem “SEATTLE” is featured in the upcoming TRANS JOY zine and they will be teaching a poetry workshop in Amsterdam in late August. You can find more of her slam poetry on YouTube and follow her shenanigans on Instagram.