New Denmark Travel Warning Issued for Transgender People Considering Visiting the U.S.

Concerns for the future of LGBTQIA+ individuals entering America continue to loom. Recent reports announced that a Denmark travel warning has been issued for transgender citizens. Here’s what you need to know.

Per the Associated Press, the Danish foreign ministry introduced a new alert that suggested that Danes who don’t identify with the gender they were assigned at birth should take precautionary measures before journeying to the United States.

“When applying for an ESTA [Electronic System for Travel Authorization] or visa to the United States, there are two gender designations to choose from: male or female,” the travel advisory stated. “If you have the gender designation X in your passport, or you have changed your gender, it is recommended that you contact the U.S. Embassy prior to travel for guidance on how to proceed.”

If you didn’t know, Danish laws allow nonbinary/intersexual residents to choose ‘X’ as a gender marker on their passports. However, the U.S. State Department has eliminated the usage of ‘X’ on travel documents. The department now denies the option for people to change or update their gender to one they aren’t biologically assigned.

Although not directly expressed, Denmark’s warning comes only months after President Donald Trump targeted the rainbow community with a slew of anti-trans policies, one (in particular) being an executive order for male and female to be the only sexes federally recognized in the States.

Fellow European countries Finland, the United Kingdom, and Germany have also urged their people to follow similar protective planning. The fear is that genderqueer travelers will face discriminatory pushback due to documentation conflicts.

Speaking on the stress of the possible consequences, Susanne Branner Jespersen of the political organization LGBT+ Danmark told France 24, “We are worried that people could be stopped at the airport and refused entry or that something inappropriate and uncomfortable could happen at the airport.”

Why the Denmark Travel Warning Is Important Amid Trump’s Administration

As you may have heard, since re-entering office in January 2025, Trump has heavily cracked down on immigration. According to investigative newsroom ProPublica, the 78-year-old revived many of the same agendas from his previous term (2017-2021), including mass deportations, building barriers on the border, and banning entrance into the country.

[SEE THE FULL LIST OF THEM HERE]

While ripping families apart and stripping foreigners of American opportunities is disheartening enough, shunning those under specific LGBTQIA+ umbrellas is even more frightening. In February, a woman named Lisa Suhay and her 21-year-old transgender daughter, Mellow, opened up about the uneasiness that came with having to apply for a passport and check “male,” even though Mellow now identifies as a transwoman in life and on her driver’s license. 

“We had to swear an oath to the fact that the information that we presented was true, even if what we had to do was not truth to ourselves,” Mellow explained to 13NewsNow.com. “It was emotional because it was in a way lying to yourself.”

That same month, ABC News cited that seven people had filed lawsuits, complaining about Trump’s decision to exclusively acknowledge male or female governmentally.

“I thought that 18 years after the transition, I would be able to live my life in safety and easy,” a Massachusetts transman said to the outlet. “Now, as a married father of three, Trump’s executive order and the ensuing passport policy have threatened that life of safety and ease. If my passport were to reflect a sex destination that is inconsistent with who I am, I would be forcibly outed every time I used my passport for travel or identification, causing potential risk to my safety and my family’s safety.”

Meanwhile, cultural tensions are arising between Danish foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and the Trump administration after Vice President JD Vance visited Greenland to tour the area’s military base. Per CBS News, Vance was (seemingly) not impressed and accused Denmark of “underinvesting in the [territory’s] security architecture.”

Rasmussen clapped back in a video message, conveying that the Danes “do not appreciate the tone” in Vance’s delivery in his assessment.

What are your thoughts on the Denmark travel warning? Let us know in the comments below.

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