{{Short description|American intersex activist (born 1958)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2016}} {{Infobox person | name = Dana Zzyym | image = Dana Zzyym - Columbia Law School panel.png | alt = | caption = Zzyym in 2016 | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1958}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | death_cause = | body_discovered = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | monuments = | nationality = | education = | alma_mater = | occupation = Activist | years_active = | organization = [[Intersex Campaign for Equality]] | known_for = | notable_works = | style = | title = | movement = | criminal_charge = | criminal_penalty = | criminal_status = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | awards = | website = }} '''Dana Alix Zzyym'''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2019/03/u-s-federal-court-just-told-state-department-issue-first-ever-gender-neutral-passport/|title = A U.S. Federal court just told the State Department to issue its first-ever gender neutral passport| date=March 2, 2019 }}</ref> (born 1958) is an [[intersex]] activist and veteran of the U.S. Navy.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2021-10-27|title=U.S. Issues First Passport With Third Gender Option|url=https://www.advocate.com/news/2021/10/27/us-issues-first-passport-third-gender-option|access-date=2021-12-07|website=www.advocate.com|language=en}}</ref> After the culmination of a six-year legal battle, they became the first U.S. citizen to receive an official [[United States passport|U.S. passport]] with an "X" sex/gender marker.<ref name="Legal">{{Cite web|last=Legal|first=Lambda|title=Lambda Legal Client Dana Zzyym Receives First 'X' U.S. Passport|url=https://www.lambdalegal.org/blog/co_20211027_dana-zzyym-receives-first-us-passport-with-x-gender-marker|access-date=2021-12-06|website=Lambda Legal|language=en}}</ref>

==Early life== Zzyym was born in 1958. Zzyym says that their childhood as a [[Military brat (U.S. subculture)|military brat]] made it out of the question for them to be associated with the [[queer community]] as a youth due to the prevalence of homophobia in the armed forces. Their parents hid Zzyym's status as intersex from them; Zzyym independently discovered their identity and the surgeries their parents had approved for them after their Navy service.<ref>{{Cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4NXY5FASj4|title=Intersex - My Body, My Rights!|date=August 31, 2014|last=|first=|type=Video|language=|publisher=YouTube}}</ref> In 1978, Zzyym joined the Navy as a [[machinist's mate]].

==Activism== Zzyym is the associate director of the [[Intersex Campaign for Equality]].<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.lambdalegal.org/blog/20151026_zzyym-intersex-denied-passport| last = Lambda Legal| author-link = Lambda Legal| title = Lambda Legal Sues U.S. State Department on Behalf of Intersex Citizen Denied Passport| date = October 26, 2015| url-status = live| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20170221091615/http://www.lambdalegal.org/blog/20151026_zzyym-intersex-denied-passport| archivedate = February 21, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last = Rein | first = Lisa | date = October 27, 2015 | title = Intersex applicants face passport discrimination, says lawsuit seeking option other than 'M' or 'F' | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/federal-eye/wp/2015/10/27/intersex-applicants-face-passport-discrimination-says-lawsuit-seeking-option-other-than-m-or-f/ | newspaper =[[The Washington Post]] | url-status = live | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20151209170342/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/federal-eye/wp/2015/10/27/intersex-applicants-face-passport-discrimination-says-lawsuit-seeking-option-other-than-m-or-f/ | archivedate = December 9, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Dana Zzyym receives first U.S. passport with 'X' gender marker|language=en|work=NPR.org|url=https://www.npr.org/2021/10/30/1050782672/dana-zzyym-receives-first-u-s-passport-with-x-gender-marker|access-date=2021-12-07}}</ref> They are [[Non-binary gender|nonbinary]] and intersex.<ref name="Legal"/>

==Legal case== Zzyym is the first veteran to seek a non-binary gender U.S. passport, in the lawsuit ''Zzyym v. Blinken'' (formerly ''Zzyym v. Pompeo'', ''Zzyym v. Tillerson'', and ''Zzyym v. Kerry'').<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-colorado-intersex/u-s-court-rules-for-colorado-intersex-veteran-denied-passport-idUSKCN1M0241 | title=U.S. Court rules for Colorado 'intersex' veteran denied passport| newspaper=[[Reuters]]| date=September 20, 2018|first=Barbara |last=Goldberg}}</ref> In light of the State Department's continuing refusal to recognize an appropriate gender marker, on June 27, 2017, a federal court granted Lambda Legal's motion to reopen the case.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.lambdalegal.org/in-court/cases/co_zzyym-v-pompeo|title=Zzyym v. Pompeo (formerly Zzyym v. Tillerson & Zzyym v. Kerry)|accessdate=November 29, 2018|publisher=Lambda Legal|archive-date=February 8, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190208092531/https://www.lambdalegal.org/in-court/cases/co_zzyym-v-pompeo|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lambdalegal.org/blog/20180919_victory-state-department-cannot-rely-on-binary-only-gender-policy|title=Victory! State Department Cannot Rely on its Binary-Only Gender Policy to Deny Passport to Nonbinary Intersex Citizen|date=September 19, 2018|publisher=[[Lambda Legal]]}}</ref> On September 19, 2018, the [[United States District Court for the District of Colorado]] enjoined the [[U.S. Department of State]] from relying upon its binary-only gender marker policy to withhold the requested passport.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.leagle.com/decision/infdco20180919h14|title=Zzyym v. Pompeo|date=September 19, 2018|publisher=[[Leagle.com]]}}</ref> In February 2021, the state department stated "To fully integrate the change into its software systems would take approximately 24 months and cost $11&nbsp;million".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Federal court orders State Department to issue the country's first nonbinary passport |date=February 22, 2019 |url=https://archive.thinkprogress.org/federal-court-nonbinary-intersex-passport-gender-marker-7ad1abce4e65/ |access-date=2022-04-27 |language=en-US}}</ref>

In October 2021, they became the first U.S. citizen to receive an official U.S. passport with an "X" sex/gender marker.<ref name=":0" />

==See also== * [[Intersex people and military service]] * [[Intersex people and military service in the United States]] * [[Elisa Rae Shupe]]

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20180920121832/http://time.com/5401473/passport-gender-dana-zzyym/ U.S. Passports Can't Be Denied Over Refusal to Select a Gender, a Judge Has Ruled], ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zzymm, Dana}} [[Category:1958 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American LGBTQ military personnel]] [[Category:American non-binary people]] [[Category:Intersex rights activists]] [[Category:Intersex military personnel]] [[Category:Intersex non-binary people]] [[Category:Intersex people and military service in the United States]] [[Category:Intersex rights in the United States]] [[Category:United States Navy sailors]] [[Category:Non-binary activists]] [[Category:LGBTQ American activists]] [[Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people]] [[Category:American intersex people]]