At the time, Zzyym said they “almost burst into tears” when they received the passport. “I’m also ecstatic that other intersex and nonbinary U.S. citizens will soon be able to apply for passports with the correct gender marker,” they said in October. The Transportation Security Administration announced at Wednesday’s news conference that it would also roll out new gender-neutral screening processes. Jose Bonilla, the chair of the TSA’s Inclusion Action Committee, said the TSA is working with its manufacturer partners to develop a new algorithm for advanced imaging technology, or AIT, body scanners that would both enhance security and enable officers to provide gender-neutral screening. Transgender people have long called for changes to TSA policies, which some say result in invasive searches and humiliating experiences. For example, TSA scanners will often identify anomalies on a transgender person’s body. Bonilla said that, in response to some of the criticisms, the TSA is updating its procedures to reduce invasive pat-downs, which often result from AIT scanners being triggered “in a sensitive area.” This change will reduce the number of patdowns for transportation security officers “and the traveling public without compromising security and will be in effect until the gender-neutral AIT screening technology is deployed,” he said. With gender-neutral “X” becoming widely available April 11, Stern said, the U.S. joins other countries that “recognize their gender options on passports without additional verification beyond the person’s own affirmation.” “We hope in doing so we will help inspire other governments to make this option available to their own citizens,” she added. Australia, Canada, Germany, India, Nepal and New Zealand also allow citizens to designate a gender other than male or female on their passports. In addition to its announcement on gender neutral “X” passports, the Biden administration also released a number of sweeping measures aimed at making the federal government more inclusive of transgender people, including a new Department of Health and Human Services website that offers resources for transgender and
Nigerian Airlines Halt Operations Over Rising Jet Fuel Costs By Camillus Eboh
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omestic flights have been disrupted since March as some started to cancel internal schedules while others delayed operations, citing scarcity of jet fuel. Global jet fuel prices have soared after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Jet fuel has risen to 700 naira per litre in Nigeria from 190 naira over a short period, the airline association said in a statement, saying that the cost of a one-hour flight has more than doubled to 120,000 naira, which is unsustainable. The association said the continued rise in the cost of jet fuel has created operational pressures that put into question their financial viability. “To this end therefore, the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) ... inform the general public that member airlines will discontinue operations nationwide with effect from Monday May 9, 2022 until further notice,” it said. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/nigerianairlines-halt-operations-over-rising-jet-fuelcosts-2022-05-07/
other LGBTQ youth, their parents and their health care providers. The Department of Education is also expanding trainings to support trans and nonbinary students, and the Social Security Administration will no longer require trans people to show proof of identity such as doctor’s notes in order to update their gender information in their Social Security record by the fall of 2022, among other reforms. The administration also once again condemned “the proliferation of dangerous anti-transgender legislative attacks” in state legislatures across the country, saying they “stigmatize and worsen the well-being and mental health of transgender kids,” and put loving, supportive families “at risk of discrimination and harassment.” https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politicsand-policy/gender-neutral-x-passports-willavailable-april-rcna22292 Image credit: travelnoire.com
21 | ABA Publications | Africa TRAVEL | May 2022
