Denmark warns transgender people to seek embassy advice before US travel

A rainbow flag at Copenhagen City Hall (Ida Guldbaek Arentsen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

The Danish foreign ministry has changed its US travel advisory for transgender people, following other European countries such as Germany and Finland who suggested the minority group may face difficulties when trying to enter the United States.

Denmark updated its official website to warn transgender people they should contact the US embassy before traveling to the US.

“When applying for an Esta or visa to the United States, there are two gender designations to choose from: male or female,” the new Danish travel advisory says.

“If you have the gender designation X in your passport, or you have changed your gender, it is recommended that you contact the US embassy prior to travel for guidance on how to proceed,” the ministry advised.

If you are transgender or have an X in your passport, can you risk being denied entry? We would like concrete answers to this

While the travel advisory does not explicitly mention Donald Trump’s administration, it comes only weeks after the US president signed an executive order calling for the federal government to define sex as only male or female and for that to be reflected on official documents such as passports and policies such as federal prison assignments.

The US state department has stopped issuing travel documents with the “X” gender marker preferred by many nonbinary people, who do not identify as strictly male or female.

The department also stopped allowing people to change the gender listed on their passport or get new ones that reflect their gender rather than their sex assigned at birth.

The head of the transgender group LGBT+ Denmark, Susanne Branner, told Danish radio RadioIII her group had asked Denmark’s foreign ministry earlier in the week for the advisory to be updated.

She said there are a few thousand people in Denmark who have changed their legal gender and who might encounter unpleasant situations at airports when trying to enter the US, or could even be denied entry because their passports do not reflect the gender assigned at birth.

“If you are transgender or have an X in your passport, can you risk being denied entry? We would like concrete answers to this,” Ms Branner said.

Other European countries have also changed their official advisories for members of the transgender community to reflect the situation in the US.

The German foreign ministry put out an advisory earlier this month, telling “travellers who have the gender entry X or whose current gender entry differs from their gender entry at birth” to contact a US diplomatic mission in Germany “before entering the country and find out the applicable entry requirements”.

Finland also advises prospective US travellers on its foreign ministry homepage that if their “current gender as recorded in their passport differs from the gender they were assigned at birth, US authorities may deny entry.

“It is recommended that you check with US authorities in advance for entry requirements.”