Posted in: HBO, Max, Opinion, TV, TV | Tagged: euphoria, Hunter Schafer, opinion

Euphoria Star Hunter Schafer Reveals Passport Changed, Calls Out Trump

In a warning to the transgender community, Euphoria's Hunter Schafer revealed the gender marker on her passport had been changed to male.

When Donald Trump was sworn back in as POTUS on January 20th, he wasted very little time making it clear that his administration was at war with the transgender community. First and foremost, there was Trump's executive order stating that "it is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female," and that "these sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality." From there, Trump signed executive orders banning transgender women and girls from competitive sports and transgender troops from the military. While a number of those executive orders have been and continue to be challenged in court, Trump's administration has made its position clear. Taking to social media, Euphoria star and transgender actress Hunter Schafer shared a personal example of how Trump's policies are already beginning to have an impact.

"Hello, internet. I don't really post much these days, but I had a bit of a harsh reality check today and felt like it's important to share with whoever is listening." Schafer began her approximately eight-minute video post. "So I'm sure most of us remember on, I think, the first day of Trump's presidency, he signed an executive order to declare only two genders recognized by the state, male and female, assigned at birth. And as a result of this, which I wrote down because I want to get it right, the Borough of Consular Affairs has frozen passport applications requesting a gender marker change or renewals or new applications with a gender marker deferring from an applicant's gender assigned at birth. So my initial reaction to this, because our president is a lot of talk, was like, I'll believe it when I see it. And today, I saw it on my new passport, male."

From there, Schafer shared what led to her having to get a new passport before admitting that even she didn't believe that Trump would follow through on his campaign threats. "I'm not making this post to fearmonger or to create drama, or receive consolation. I don't need it. But I do think it's worth posting to sort of note the reality of the situation and that it is actually happening. And I was shocked. I was shocked because I didn't know; I just didn't think it was actually going to happen. And I want to acknowledge my privilege not only as a famous or celebrity trans woman who is white and thin and can adhere to contemporary beauty standards, and I can participate in all of that, and I pass, and it still happened," she continued.

During the heartfelt and impassioned message, the actress expressed her very real concerns about how difficult Trump's moves have made things for the transgender community and her fears over what could still be on the way. But Schafer isn't letting Trump or his followers define her. "I also want to say I don't give a fuck that they put an 'M' on my passport. It doesn't change really anything about me or my transness," Schafer says at one point, addressing the entire transgender community later in the clip: "I just want to say trans people are beautiful. We are never going to stop existing. I'm never going to stop being trans. A letter and a passport can't change that, and fuck this administration. And I don't really have an answer on what to do about this, but I feel it was important to share. This is real. So yeah, fuck." Here's a look at the full transcript of what Schafer had to share (double-checked with The Hollywood Reporter's reporting):

"Hello, internet. I don't really post much these days, but I had a bit of a harsh reality check today and felt like it's important to share with whoever is listening. So I'm sure most of us remember on, I think, the first day of Trump's presidency, he signed an executive order to declare only two genders recognized by the state, male and female, assigned at birth. And as a result of this, which I wrote down because I want to get it right, the Borough of Consular Affairs has frozen passport applications requesting a gender marker change or renewals or new applications with a gender marker deferring from an applicant's gender assigned at birth. So my initial reaction to this, because our president is a lot of talk, was like, I'll believe it when I see it. And today, I saw it on my new passport: 'male.'

So, now to specify, my gender markers were first changed in my teens when I first got my driver's license, and then passports following all have been female since then; hasn't really been a problem. However, last year when I was filming in Barcelona, our car got broken into and my bag got stolen and inside of that was my passport, which was supposed to last me up until my 30s. And so I got an emergency passport, which was very simple at the time. It's basically just a copy of my old passport, but temporary and only supposed to be used within the year. So as soon as I got back to the states, I had to get this fixed and get it replaced with a real proper passport, which I went to the federal passport agency today in L.A. and did, I've had to do this one time before. No part of the process was different. I filled everything out just like I normally would. I put female, and when it was picked up today, and I opened it up, they had changed the marker to male.

I'm not making this post to fearmonger or to create drama, or receive consolation. I don't need it. But I do think it's worth posting to sort of note the reality of the situation and that it is actually happening. And I was shocked. I was shocked because I didn't know; I just didn't think it was actually going to happen. And I want to acknowledge my privilege not only as a famous or celebrity trans woman who is white and thin and can adhere to contemporary beauty standards, and I can participate in all of that, and I pass, and it still happened.

And yeah, I never had my birth certificate changed. So this has led me to believe that I think the agencies who are in charge of passports and this sort of thing are now required to cross-reference birth certificates, or I don't know exactly what or what changed as far as the processing goes, but this is the first time, excuse me, this has happened to me since I changed my gender marker. We're coming up on a decade now or something, and I do believe it is a direct result of the administration our country is currently operating under.

And I guess I'm just sort of scared of the way this stuff slowly gets implemented because things just sort of start happening. I think, as we've seen in historical rises of fascism and this sort of everything that this new administration kind of represents. There's a lot of talk, and then things start happening, and we start to normalize the circumstances we're under. And I just feel like it's important to share that it's not just talk, that this is real and it's happening and no one, no matter their circumstance, no matter how wealthy or white or pretty or whatever, is excluded, this is real. I also want to say I don't give a fuck that they put an "M" on my passport. It doesn't change really anything about me or my transness. However, it does make life a little harder.

Personally, I think I mean, I haven't tested it out yet. I'll find out next week when I have to travel abroad for the first time with my new passport. But I am pretty sure it's going to come along with having to out myself to border patrol agents and that whole gig much more often than I would like to or is really necessary. And this is just my personal circumstance, and thinking about other trans women who this might also be happening to or other trans people. The list only gets longer as far as the intricacies that come along with the difficulty that this brings into real life shit, this is getting very long, but I just want to say trans people are beautiful. We are never going to stop existing. I'm never going to stop being trans. A letter and a passport can't change that, and fuck this administration. And I don't really have an answer on what to do about this, but I feel it was important to share. This is real. So yeah, fuck."

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