This article follows up on Danni Askini’s difficulties getting a passport, which I posted about last month. Not only is Danni not the only trans woman who has had trouble getting a passport, but apparently the situation was even sketchier than I realized:
Askini, in contrast, was disturbed by the fact that the State Department even knew she was transgender. In her specific case, her legal gender transition was granted by a judge when she was still a minor — and in relation to a sex trafficking case and a safety effort to conceal her identity, all of the child welfare records were sealed at the time.
”None of my documentation would disclose my trans status,” says Askini. “No databases that are local, state, or federal should note my gender as anything other than female.
Danni Askini is a trans activist from Seattle. Despite having the State Department deny her request for a passport renewal, she is now seeking asylum in Sweden.
The UN has been able to investigate human rights complaints within the US, but the Trump administration has rejected international oversight
BREAKING NEWS:
Danni Askini knew she had a dangerous job as the founder of a Gender Justice League, a transgender rights advocacy organization in Seattle, Washington. She’s a transgender woman and is used to occasional threats. But after she and others sued the Trump administration over its transgender military ban, the threats became constant and specific, Askini says. “People telling me that they were going to kill my mother,” she says. “Somebody had stalked and figured out my brother’s address, what bus stop he used, and where he worked, and threatened to kill my brother.” And then one day, when she was driving alone, a green truck with two men in it ran Askini off the road. “Basically they ran me into a guardrail,” she says. The men in the truck stopped, yelled specific threats about her being transgender, and drove off. She says police decided it was road rage and didn’t file a report. The Seattle Police Department didn’t respond for requests for confirmation or comment. Askini asked federal authorities for help — they had been responsive in the past and had even helped train her staff at Gender Justice League in security measures. “This is the first time where they declined to really help,” she says. At that point Askini and her family decided she needed to leave the country. But when she tried to renew her passport, she says officials told her that she had obtained it fraudulently because she didn’t provide documentation including her gender at birth. A State Department official says there has been no policy change in regard to transgender applicants, and, although they can’t comment on any individual’s application or circumstances, they are committed to treating all passport applicants fairly and with respect, including transgender individuals. Askini's congresswoman, Democrat Pramila Jayapal, intervened to get Askini a temporary passport. Askini went to Sweden, where her ex-husband lives. Six months later, she’s still there. Her Swedish visa is about to expire. And she can’t come back to the US. “I don’t have a US passport, I cannot leave the state of Sweden and I don’t have Swedish citizenship,” she says. Askini turned to international authorities for help, filing a human rights complaint with the United Nations. But the State Department won’t respond to the UN’s requests to investigate...
Includes audio by Public Radio Intl.'s Rupa Shenoy.
Chocolate for Choice is the event we need right now
It’s rough out there right now. Our healthcare system is getting gutted. Planned Parenthood, a shining beacon in gutted-healthcare times, is constantly in jeopardy. Even locally, we can’t get a goddamn bill saying that pregnant women should get on-the-job accommodations without watering it the fuck down. Ugh.
Chocolate for Choice is a one-two punch: It raises money for NARAL Pro Choice Washington, which fights anti-choice bullshit, and also has chocolate and booze (and non-boozy beverages if that’s more your thing) to help us through these trying times.
Some chocolate purveyors include Cupcake Royale (who have been there for a minute—one of yr Ish Eds may still have a “legalize frostitution” button from volunteering at C4C in 2004ish), Mighty-O, and Macrina.
Two of your Ish Eds will be judging this smorgasbord of delights, and the third will be heckling the shit out of us. Other judges who are probably cooler than us include Danni Askini.
If you can swing the $50, you will not want to miss this. Register here.
Danni Askini is an outspoken and politically active trans rights advocate. She is the Executive Director of Gender Justice League. I have had the privilege of meeting her on several occasions, including sitting with her during our congressional district caucus during the 2016 presidential campaign. I greatly admire her and the important work she does.
She is currently being denied a U.S. passport renewal under some very worrying circumstances. Even though it is only a renewal, and she had a valid passport under her current name and gender marker up until it expired last September, the State Department is refusing to renew unless she produces additional documentation, some logistically difficult and some impossible for her to get.
The Feds almost certainly have an extensive file on Danni, given the work she does. She is feeling extremely unsafe in the current U.S. political climate, and is in hiding due to the threats of violence mentioned in her tweets above.
How To Help
Donate to the Urgent Action Fund, who are working with Danni to find her security and obtain safe passage out of the U.S.
If you live in the U.S., contact the Department of State and demand that they renew Danni’s passport without any additional restrictions, delay, or documents she cannot produce.
Dept. of State phone: 1-202-647-6575
Dept. of State online contact form
If you live in Canada, contact Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Office of Global Affairs. Ask them to make an official inquiry on Danni’s behalf as a human rights defender, and pressure the U.S. Dept. of State to grant her a passport and safe passage to Canada.
If you live in Sweden, contact Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, especially Minister Margot Wallström. Ask them to make an official inquiry on Danni’s behalf, and pressure the U.S. Dept. of State to grant her a passport and safe passage to Sweden to do human rights work with RFSL Sweden, whom she has worked with before.
Government offices switchboard phone: +46 8 405 10 00
For updates on the situation, or more information, you can follow her on Twitter @danniaskini.
Transcript of the above tweets and facebook post under the cut.
Facebook June 29, 2018:
Update from the State Dept. They are now asking me for:
Sealed legal documents from my childhood including records of parental and custodial relationships, copies of police reports, case files, or sworn statements detailing the circumstances for my entry into State Custody as a minor, (which they already have a copy of and that would take me an in-court appearance in Maine to receive, which they acknowledged).
Copies of an original U.S. birth certificate signed by a physician who attended my birth or a sworn statement verifying my birth by that physician (which is under seal from child welfare proceedings and a legal name change related to them).
Copies of immigration and naturalization paperwork demonstrating that I am “not an alien”.
Copies of all entry and exit stamps or visas to other nations.
A list of all dates, times, and ports of entry into or out of the United States.
A letter from a physician stating that I have undergone gender transition.As well as a completely new application (as opposed to a renewal application) with photographs, and to re-appear in person.
I mistakenly surrendered my passport which expired in September when making the application to renew - assuming that I could still travel on my EU passport (which is now invalid as well). One might think that they don’t want to issue me a passport.
Tweets June 29 - July 1, 2018:
Today I was denied a renewal of my U.S. passport and told I would need to get a judge to unseal child welfare records from foster care in order to “prove” my U.S. citizenship. Despite having had a “female” ID since 1999, they are now demanding “Proof of Transition” for the 1st time.
If folks want to help, please read up on the U.N. Declaration of the Rights of Human Rights Defenders, of which the United States is a signatory. It is vital in these time to understand, state protection is an obligation, not a privilege.
Other important notes: 1. I have already showed them a birth certificate with my current legal name (which it has been since 1999) and my legal gender as “female”. They claim this is not the “original” because I had previous names. The “original” documents no longer exist.
It is also worth noting: 1. I am a survivor of stalking with felony charges still pending - State Dept. has seen this. 2. I am actively fleeing threats of violence, 3. I have sought official U.S. government protection for #2 and was told to buy a gun and hire private security.
My job is dangerous enough. Being trapped in a country where other people who want to do harm to me for my work as a human rights defender can operate freely and unhindered by State Actors is reason to seek asylum in another country. I refuse to live in terror and fear.
The barrier to an asylum claim is quite high if you are coming from a country with any form of a legal system, police, or functioning government. It isn’t impossible to prove and I believe I have compelling evidence. Most countries are however afraid to piss off the USA.
With a batterer in the White House, everyone is afraid. I survived domestic violence, I’ve seen how on an interpersonal and institutional level men use fear of reprisal, intimidation, and violence to cow others into submission. At some point other countries will have to stand up.
I’m not even sure who or what can apply enough pressure to the State Department to get me a passport. I plan on leaving, but if I leave without a passport I will be committing a crime. :-/
We can reach out to the governments of Canada and Sweden to make official inquiries. Call the State Department to demand they issue a renewed passport. Pressure states to ratify the U.N. Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.
I can luckily do my work from anywhere in the world. I don’t intend to be a martyr at 35 though. Safety comes first, that is what my trans elders have told me time and again. I’m not giving up. I’m getting to safety so I can keep fighting.
What can people do. People can call in @StateDept to renew my passport without restrictions or further delay and documents I can’t produce.
People who are in Canada can reach out to @JustinTrudeau and @CanadaFP to ask that they make an official inquiry on my behalf as a human rights defender, and ask @StateDept to allow me a passport and safe passage to Canada.
People in Sweden can reach out to @SwedishPM @SweMFA and @margotwallstrom to make an official inquiry to @StateDept to give me a passport so I can travel to Sweden to do human rights work with @rfslnewcomers and RFSL Sweden whom I’ve worked with before.
If people want to help: Please donate to the Urgent Action Fund. They have helped me in the past and are helping me secure security and safe passage. Their work is needed now more than ever. urgentactionfund.org.
