Poland
While birthright citizenship is possible to obtain where a direct lineage can be proven to a Polish citizen ancestor without a break in citizenship in the family chain, there are reports about discrimination in daily life that make this a less-desirable option among European countries. Things have however been recently turning around internally. For example, all of the “LGBT-free” zones in Poland were recently repealed by the courts in Warsaw in early 2024.
Also, unless Poland leaves the European Union, a Polish passport holder can live and work without a visa in any other EU or Schengen Area country. This may be useful for American trans people with ancestors who left Poland due to various historical events, such as the Holocaust, World War II, and the 1968 political crisis. People have reported success in getting Polish passports after proving Polish lineage through an ancestor, which on occasion can be enabled via consultation with professionals such as genealogists.
Polish nationality law also changed numerous times throughout the 20th century, and there are specific rules regarding the sex of your ancestors and when and if they acquired foreign citizenship that may affect your ability to obtain a Certificate of Polish Nationality by jus sanguinis. There are additional laws that exist and previously existed that caused loss of citizenship due to certain actions such as marriage to a non-citizen, service in a foreign military, working in a government job or elected position, and naturalization in a foreign country. The article below goes over changes to birthright citizenship laws between 1918 and 2009 that may affect you. One of the most consequential changes to citizenship laws occurred in 1951, which removed most of the actions that were able to cause loss of Polish citizenship.
There is also a graph here to help you determine if you’re eligible for Polish Nationality and therefore a Polish passport.
Going through the birthright process of getting a passport for Poland after getting confirmation of Polish Nationality also does not require any intent to reside in Poland, or any proof of knowledge of Polish language. Learning Polish however is of course recommended if one’s intent is to reside in Poland as this is the primary language of the country. In addition, legal gender change is recognized in Poland and gender-affirming care is available, albeit it currently requires suing one’s own parents to change one’s legal sex, regardless of their child’s age. This can be a formality if the parents are in agreement with their child’s transition, or difficult otherwise. Genital surgery is also not possible internally without first changing one’s legal sex.