Hunter Schafer, the 26-year-old transgender actress best known for her work in “Euphoria,” was given a passport marked male last week, which she revealed in an eight-and-a-half minute TikTok video. Shafer transitioned in her early teens, according to Global News, in her freshman year of high school, and has been marked female on all her documents since then. Her female-marked passport was meant to last until her thirties, however, it was stolen while she was filming in Spain. After acquiring an emergency passport, she needed a more permanent one for the future. When she filled out her application, she chose the female option, however, her birth certificate was not amended to fit her pronouns. Due to this, she received her passport with an “M” instead of an “F.”
On Donald Trump’s first day in office, he signed an executive order regarding narrowing the federal definition of sexes. Now, according to APNews, the federal government only defines sex as male or female, and applies this to all federal documents. Also, any new applicants would not receive documents that were with any other gender than what they were assigned at birth. Schafer acknowledged this order in her video response, stating that she’d “believe it when [she saw] it, and today, [she] saw it on [her] new passport.”
Schafer is a relatively well-known actress and model. Her role as Jules Vaughn in “Euphoria” is one of her most famous roles, starring alongside Zendaya, Jacob Elordi, and Sydney Sweeny. She was also a co-executive producer for the show and a co-writer for one episode, “F**k Anyone Who’s Not a Sea Blob.” Schafer also made an appearance in “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” as Tigris Snow. According to W, her most recent performance is the lead role, Gretchen, in “Cuckoo,” a 2024 horror film directed by Tilman Singer. IMDb states that she has been nominated for Best Leading Performance in “Cuckoo” at the 2025 Independent Spirit Awards, and Best Writing For a Drama Series at the 2021 International Online Cinema Awards and Best Kiss at the 2022 MTV Movie & TV Awards, both for “Euphoria.”
In her video announcement, she spoke out on the issue not to create fear, but to “note the reality of the situation.” Her video covered a brief recap of the law change, some of her background with her gender change, the reason she ended up getting a new passport, and her reason for posting the video. She also acknowledged her own feelings about the new administration, stating that “I guess I’m just sort of scared of the way this stuff slowly gets implemented.” Schafer added that, “it doesn’t really change anything about [Shafer] or [her] transness. However, it does make [her] life a little harder,” according to Global News.
Overall, Schafer treated this situation with a very mature and removed standpoint, and clearly did not take it personally. However, her mentioned fear for the future of the administration has been synonymous with many other queer people’s feelings.
