Drag Race star Aja's passport gender marker was changed to male

Reality television star Aja has shared that her passport gender marker was changed to male.

The RuPaul's Drag Race star and transgender woman shared the news on social media on Thursday, May 22, with a selfie showing her flipping off the camera.

"Today, the U.S. government handed me a passport that says 'M' — even though my previous one said 'F' and every document I’ve submitted says female," she wrote on Instagram. "I didn’t ask for a change. I was just replacing a lost passport."

When Aja picked up her passport, officials reportedly told her that they "updated the gender marker to 'match their records.'" But according to Aja, who publicly came out as transgender in 2021, all the records that she submitted "are all legally female."

"When I said that having a document with incorrect information puts me in danger traveling internationally, I was denied escalation, refused further documentation, and sent out the door with paperwork and a pat on the head," Aja continued. "Now I’m being forced to choose between my safety and my career — between flying with a passport that outs me at every checkpoint, or canceling tens of thousands of dollars in international work I’m booked for."

"This is what transphobia in policy looks like. Quiet. Calculated. And deadly."

Aja, who is currently starring on season 10 of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, said her rights are being violated, and she is ready to fight back.

"This isn’t a clerical error," she said. "This is a federal fumble with my life in the crosshairs. And if they thought I’d carry this passport in silence? They forgot who the fuck I am. I’m not going down. I’m going public. I’m going legal. And I’m dragging the system with me!"

Euphoria star Hunter Schafer shared a similar experience with her passport in February of this year.

"On 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," Schafer said in an eight minute video at the time. "As a result of this, the Bureau of Consular Affairs has frozen passport applications requesting gender marking changes or renewals" that defer from the applicant's gender assigned at birth."

She went on to share a message of defiance.

"Trans people are beautiful. We are never going to stop existing. We are never going to stop being trans. A letter on a passport can't change that… and f*ck this administration."

Though there's no solution in sight just yet, legal challenges to the Trump administration's passport policy are under way. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) commented on Aja's Instagram post, "This Tuesday, we'll be in federal court to block this policy for all — including you. Talk to you soon."