The United States will recognize only two sexes, male and female, that are unchangeable, President Donald Trump ordered on Monday as he moved to quickly end a range of policies aimed at promoting racial equity and protecting rights for LGBTQ+ people.
The order requires the government use the term “sex” rather than “gender,” while mandating that identification documents issued by the government, including passports and visas, be based on what it described as “an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female.”
Hours after taking office, Trump quickly moved to fulfill campaign promises to roll back policies put in place by the Biden administration, which prioritized implementing diversity measures across the federal government.
Trump repealed 78 executive orders signed by Joe Biden, including at least a dozen measures supporting racial equity and combating discrimination against gay and transgender people.
Among the rollbacks, Trump rescinded two orders that Biden signed on his first day in office four years ago, one advancing racial equity for underserved communities and another combating discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation.
Trump repealed other orders aimed at helping Black, Hispanic, Native American and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
“This week, I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life,” Trump said in his inaugural address.
“We will forge a society that is color blind and merit-based. … As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female,” Trump said.
Trump’s moves to scrap many diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies and sharply curtail transgender rights coincided with this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday commemorating the civil rights leader.
Civil and human rights advocates and groups immediately vowed to protect minorities and challenge Trump’s agenda.
“We refuse to back down or be intimidated. We are not going anywhere, and we will fight back against these harmful provisions with everything we’ve got,” Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ+ rights advocacy group in the U.S., said in a statement.
Rights advocates have said any DEI and transgender rights rollbacks implemented by Trump would be a blow to hard-fought efforts to secure equitable policies and undermine progress made to address systemic prejudices that have deprived equal opportunities for marginalized groups for decades.
“We will continue our relentless efforts to protect immigrant rights, combat voter suppression, and confront hate and discrimination in all its forms,” Asian Americans Advancing Justice said in a statement.
Many corporations have distanced themselves from DEI measures, with some rolling back DEI initiatives and programs in recent weeks. Meanwhile, companies such as Costco and Apple have remained resolute in maintaining their commitment to DEI.
As part of the executive orders, federal funds will not be used to promote “gender ideology,” a loose term often used by conservative groups to reference any ideology that promotes non-traditional views on sex and gender. Rights and advocacy groups view the term as an anti-LGBTQ trope and dehumanizing.
The Trump administration will also seek to limit the scope of a major victory for transgender rights under the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling of Bostock v Clayton County, in which the high court found that civil rights protections against discrimination “on the basis of sex” applied to sexuality and gender identity.
The attorney general would provide explicit guidance on how to apply Bostock.
Transgender rights have become a contentious political topic in recent years. During November’s election season, many Republicans campaigned on reversing transgender laws with a particular focus on transgender women participating in sports.
During a pre-inauguration rally on Sunday, Donald Trump said that he will take action to “keep all men out of women’s sports.”
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