Based on his campaign promises, the LGBTQ+ community was not shocked to learn that one of Trump’s first actions when he took office was to issue executive orders to essentially erase trans identities.
One order, entitled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” was among more than 200 executive orders Trump issued on his first day back, according to reports from Them.
Other orders including the pardoning of 1,500 people convicted of attempted insurrection on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021; withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord and World Health Organization; freezing federal loans and grants; disbanding federal DEI programs; revoking birthright citizenship, and attempting to bar people from Muslim countries from entering the U.S.
Amidst the dumpster fire, Trump’s anti-trans order includes provisions to redefine gender to erase recognition of trans people in government communication, discontinue the issuance of gender-corrected passports, ban incarcerated trans women from women’s prisons, deny gender-affirming medical care to trans inmates, and block federal funds from being utilized to “promote gender ideology,” Them reports.
Trump also issued orders reversing Biden-era protections for abortion and blocked aid to non-governmental organizations that provide or support abortions.
Trump’s anti-trans order declared that there are only two biological sexes that are “not changeable” and blocks the use of “X” gender markers on passports and Global Entry cards, forcing trans document holders to identify their assigned at birth gender.
LGBTQ+ advocacy groups were quick to push back on these changes. Lambda Legal CEO Kevin Jennings said in a statement “We are exploring every legal avenue to challenge these unlawful and unconstitutional actions. This is not only about politics and ideology, but also about real people’s lives.”
Jennings pointed out that LGBTQ+ organizations would be hard pressed to tackle every “odious anti-LGBTQ policy” over the next four years.
Trump also drew up plans to ban trans people from serving in the military. He employed a similar ban during his last term as president which was reversed during the Biden Administration. This time around, Trump directed Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, to revise Pentagon policy to include a trans military ban.
