The first few days of US President Donald Trump’s tenure were very busy. He has signed more than 100 executive orders, giving directions that the President can give to federal agencies and departments without consulting Congress. Many of them were related to LGBTQ+ rights.
During his inaugural address, Trump announced that under his leadership the US government would recognize only two genders. This means that the government will not allow non-binary and intersex people, who are neither male nor female, to have their identity reflected on their passports and other official documents.
The executive order, which Trump signed on the first day of his second term, reads, “It is the policy of the United States to recognize the two sexes, male and female.” “These genders are not changeable and are based on fundamental and undeniable reality.”
The order, titled “Protecting Women from Gender Ideological Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government”, also makes clear that the US government no longer recognizes the identities of transgender people.
Trump: ‘False claim’
The President’s directive states, “Across the country, ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex have prevented men from self-identifying as women and gaining access to intimate single-sex spaces and activities designed for women. Legal and other socially coercive methods have been used to allow this.” State. “This is wrong.”
According to Trump’s executive order, it is a “false claim” that people born with a prostate can “identify as female and thus become female and vice versa.”
There are approximately 1.6 million transgender people ages 13 and older in the United States, according to Williams Institute School of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles, The American Medical Association (AMA) is in favor of providing gender-affirming health care.Any medical care that helps people change the gender they identify with.
It is important for transgender people to receive this care; The AMA says this kind of care “is linked to dramatically reduced rates of suicide attempts [and] Rates of depression and anxiety decreased.”
No more diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives
Trump also signed an executive order to end all “diversity, equity and inclusion” initiatives in federal departments and agencies. According to proponents, DEI programs ensure that underrepresented groups – whether based on race, gender or other markers – get a fair chance and equal treatment in the workplace. As stated in Trump’s directive, opponents have called the DEI initiative an “immoral discrimination program” and a “public waste.”
In addition to signing his own executive orders, the US President can also reverse orders signed by his predecessor. Trump rescinded the Joe Biden directive titled “Preventing and Combating Discrimination Based on Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation” on the first day of his second term.
It ordered all federal departments to review and, if necessary, revise their policies prohibiting gender discrimination to ensure that they also prohibited discrimination against members of LGBTQ+ communities. This is no longer valid.
What will be the effect of Trump’s executive orders?
Starting in 2022, US citizens were able to choose X as the sex marker on their passport, instead of M or F for “male” or “female”. It is not yet clear what will happen to passports that are currently marked with an But since only two genders are recognized by the Trump administration, people who identify as non-binary or intersex will no longer be able to obtain new documents that reflect that identity. It may also hinder their identity from being recognized elsewhere, for example at school or at work.
Not recognizing transgender and non-binary identities has many consequences for those affected. Trans people are now unable to change their gender on government documents to align their ID with their gender identity. The order also prohibits federal government workplaces from requiring that transgender employees be referred to by their preferred pronouns.
Since the government will only recognize a person as the gender they were assigned at birth, transgender women will be sent to men’s prisons. And transgender employees in federal government departments and agencies must use the restroom of the gender they were born with, not the gender they identify with.
All DEI officials across federal agencies and departments are on paid leave starting Wednesday as their initiative closes.
Revocation of Biden’s executive order means there is no regulation for employers that explicitly says they cannot discriminate against employees with LGBTQ+ identities. This could include a transgender person trying and failing to refer to their employer by pronouns that match their identity, or someone being excluded from networking events because they identify with their same gender. Wanted to bring my life partner.
LGBTQ+ communities, allies appeal
While conservatives see some of their wishes being realized through Trump’s executive orders, supporters and allies of the LGBTQ+ communities are horrified. He says that some of his hard won victories over the past few years are being rolled back, which he is unwilling to accept.
“We refuse to back down or be intimidated,” said Kelly Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ+ rights advocacy group in the United States. “We are not going anywhere, and we will fight these harmful provisions with everything we have.”
Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender member of Congress, strongly opposes the newly signed rules, saying gender is a binary and immutable.
“No executive action, no legislative action for that matter, can erase the reality of diversity by gender in our society,” McBride, who represents Delaware in the House of Representatives, told US broadcaster NBC.
Edited by: Milan Gagnon
