Eight States Join Colorado In Fight For Nonbinary Passports

DENVER (CBS4) - Eight states have joined Colorado's Attorney General, Phil Weiser, in an ongoing case of a Coloradan fighting to get a passport. Dana Zzyym does not identify as either male or female.

In 2015, The U.S. State Department denied Zzyym a passport because Zzyym did not check "male" or "female" on the application.

In September of 2018, Zzyym won a lawsuit against the State Department. A district court found Zzyym should not have been denied a passport.

Zzyym was born with ambiguous physical sexual characteristics and identifies as nonbinary in gender.

But, the State Department appealed the decision, and the case is now in the U.S. Court of Appeals.

"The federal government needs to catch up with the states that are leading the way when it comes to equality. All Americans should be able to obtain a passport that accurately reflects their gender," Weiser said.

The states, California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont and Washington, filed a brief asking an appeals court in Denver to uphold that ruling.