The Trump administration's new policy requiring U.S. passports to reflect a person's gender assigned at birth is chilling travel plans among the nonbinary and transgender travel communities and their allies, according to travel advisors and LGBTQ+ advocates.  And they say concerns among the wider LGBTQ+ travel community, both here and abroad, are making the U.S. a less desirable destination for the lucrative LGBTQ+ travel market overall. 
In January, almost immediately after taking office, Trump issued an executive order directing federal agencies to only recognize one of two sexes -- male and female -- and directing the State Department to only issue passports that "accurately reflect the holder's sex," defined as gender assigned at birth.
The policy stopped allowing people to change the gender on their passports or apply for a passport with a gender different than the one assigned at birth, something that has been allowed for more than two decades, including during the first Trump term. The use of an "X" to denote gender-unspecified status, added as an option by the Biden administration, was also eliminated.

The changes have posed a challenge for travelers who identify as transgender, nonbinary or intersex, and advocates say that many are afraid that they could be harassed or questioned by U.S. border authorities or denied travel if their physical presentation doesn't match the gender marker on their passport. 
Arli Christian, senior policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, which sued the Trump administration in February in U.S. district court in Massachusetts on behalf of seven transgender and nonbinary people on the grounds that the policy violates their constitutional rights, said the chilling effect "on trans and intersex, nonbinary people across the country is very palpable. People are afraid to travel. People have canceled trips."
According to the ACLU lawsuit, having a gender marker on a passport that is not in accordance with one's lived gender "subjects that person to harm, including an invasion of privacy" and "to risks of discrimination and harassment in a variety of settings," including interactions with government employees.
Christian added that Trump's executive order "infringes on people's fundamental right to travel." 
Duncan Greenfield-Turk, chief travel designer with U.K.-based Global Travel Moments, a Global Travel Collection affiliate that predominantly services U.S.-based clients, said he has seen a drop in transgender travel to the U.S. Transgender travelers, he said, "are not going to risk it" when it comes to traveling to and from the U.S. 
"Unless they are in a very lucky situation to have fully transitioned to present as their passport is gender-marked, then I think they may not wish to travel," Greenfield-Turk said. "They're nervous. The U.S. is not considered a safe place for transgender people."
As a travel advisor, he also has trouble selling a destination where there is legal ambiguity and concerns about trans travelers running into trouble at the border. 
"My No. 1 concern currently is we cannot give legal guidance to trans travelers," he said. "We have no law firm, no one from government who is willing to give assurances." 
John Tanzella, CEO of the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association (IGLTA), has similar concerns.
"We're basically telling our members, make sure you stay on top of the information being put out by the State Department. But it literally changes daily, and it's unfortunately changing for the worst," he said. For trans passport holders, he added, "coming back into this country could be troublesome."
The State Department extended the gender policy to those applying for visas to travel to the U.S., after which several European countries, including Denmark, Finland and Germany, updated their guidelines for their trans or nonbinary citizens, advising them of the changes. Denmark, for example, warned that if the gender marker on a traveler's passport does not match their birth gender, the traveler may not be approved for travel to the U.S.
Financial hit for the U.S.

The ACLU lawsuit claims that the government's policy, which Trump's order says will protect women's spaces from men who self-identify as women, exposes Americans who are otherwise eligible for passports "to grievous harms and violates their constitutional rights to equal protection, travel, privacy and speech" for being transgender, intersex or nonbinary. 
Christian said that while this is a small community and may not be noticeable in terms of an initial drop in travel numbers, it may only be the beginning. 
"They're taking away the ability to freely travel for this small subset of folks. Who's next?" Christian said. "It's really not about trans people. Everyone should care when a small amount of people's rights are taken away because it doesn't stop there."
That concern is also being expressed by members of the wider LGBTQ+ community.
Tanzella said IGLTA members are hearing from LGBTQ+ travelers that they are looking elsewhere for a vacation instead of the U.S. 
"They're looking at Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe," Tanzella said. "Depending on where they are, but strongly from Canada and Europe and Mexico, they are avoiding the States."
That's being driven by both safety concerns and messaging from the current administration, he added. "The rhetoric is turning people afoul of us, of coming to this country."
Any downturn from the international LGBTQ+ travel market could hit the U.S. travel industry hard. According to Reports & Insights, a U.K.-based market research firm, the global LGBTQ+ tourism market is expected to reach $579.2 billion in 2033. Much of that revenue has traditionally flowed to destinations in the U.S., which the firm said has a significant share of the LGBTQ+ tourism market, "driven by progressive policies, strong legal protections and thriving LGBT communities."