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"Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government" is an executive order issued by Donald Trump on January 20, 2025,[1] the day of his second inauguration as president of the United States.
| "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government" | |
 | |
| Type | Executive order |
|---|---|
| Signed by | Donald Trump on January 20, 2025 |
The order promotes the concept of "sex-based rights" and the rejection of "gender ideology", calling "gender ideology" an effort to "eradicate the biological reality of sex" in language and policy. It requires federal departments to recognize gender as a male-female binary only (determined by biological sex assigned at conception), replace all instances of "gender" with "sex" in materials, cease all funding for gender-affirming care, cease allowing gender self-identification on federal documents such as passports, cease the funding or promotion of "gender ideology", cease the application of Bostock v. Clayton County as to provide Title VII protection based on gender identity in federal activities, and prohibit transgender people from using single-sex federally funded facilities congruent with their gender.
The executive order was described as part of a broader effort to erase protections and recognition for transgender people.[2][3] It was widely condemned by feminist, LGBT, and civil rights organizations.
Background
Trump signed the order on his first day as president, as well as more than 25 other executive orders.[4] A Trump administration official said "this is step one" and that more restrictions on transgender people will follow.[5]
The Associated Press noted that Trump "made his opposition to transgender rights central to his closing argument before Election Day, using demeaning language and misrepresentations to paint an exceedingly narrow slice of the U.S. population as a threat to national identity."[6] According to Miriam Juan-Torres González, an expert on authoritarian populism, the Trump campaign’s attacks on transgender people exemplify how authoritarian populists use perceived threats to justify restrictive policies. She explained that the Trump campaign fueled moral panic by portraying trans athletes as a threat to societal norms and advocating for stricter government control over transgender rights.[7]
Summary
Summarize
Perspective
The order attacks what it calls "gender ideology" and promotes concepts such as "sex-based rights" and the trans-exclusionary concept of "adult human female". It defined "gender ideology" as replacing "the biological category of sex with an ever-shifting concept of self-assessed gender identity, permitting the false claim that males can identify as and thus become women and vice versa, and requiring all institutions of society to regard this false claim as true".[8] The order stated that it would "defend women’s rights and protect freedom of conscience by using clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male."[9]
The order additionally defines "female" and "male" as "a person belonging, at conception to the sex that produces the large reproductive cell" and a "person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the small reproductive cell" respectively.[1]
The executive order mandated that:[1][9][10]
- Federal agencies should use "sex" instead of "gender", remove materials that "promote gender ideology", and halt "funding of gender ideology"[1]: § 3(a), 3(e)
- Official government documents such as passports and visas stop allowing self-selection of gender[1]: § 3(d)
- Transgender people be barred from government-funded single-sex facilities congruent with their gender identity[1]: § 4
- The Bureau of Prisons halt any federal funding for gender-affirming care.[1]: § 4(c)
- That federal funding no longer go to gender-affirming care[11]
- The attorney general provide guidance "to correct the misapplication of the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020) to sex-based distinctions" in federal agency activities.[1]: § 3(f)
- Prior policies and federal government documents that are inconsistent with this order be rescinded, including policies that require the use of names and pronouns consistent with a person's gender identity in federal workplaces.
Analysis
The order defines a female as "a person belonging, at conception to the sex that produces the large reproductive cell," while a male is a "person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the small reproductive cell." From conception to 6-7 weeks gestation, however, human fetuses follow the female route of development. Thus some (including Sarah McBride, the first transgender member of Congress) have speculated that the order may be interpreted as defining everyone as female.[12][13][14] Biologically it is not possible to know at conception which type of reproductive cell an embryo will eventually produce. It takes eight to 10 weeks for genetic signals to stimulate the development of non-neutral gonads (i.e. testes or ovaries) with the largest role played by the SRY gene; a malfunction in this gene can result in, for example, androgen insensitivity where an individual has an XY karyotype but is physiologically female.[15]
Intersex people were not included in the executive order.[16][17] Approximately 2% of the population is intersex.[15]
Implementation
Hours after the order was signed, the Trump administration deleted mentions of LGBTQ+ resources across federal government websites.[18]
Reactions
Summarize
Perspective
It was widely condemned as "extremist" and "cruel" by feminist, LGBT, and civil rights organizations. According to The New Republic, the executive order is "packed with the kinds of conspiratorial thinking about gender and sexuality that have become commonplace on the right."[19]
Organizations
The American Civil Liberties Union's Chase Strangio described the executive order as aimed at eradicating trans people from civic and public life. [20] The ACLU vowed to take the Trump administration to court "wherever we can" to defend LGBTQ rights.[21]
Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson said "today's expected executive actions targeting the LGBTQ+ community serve no other purpose than to hurt our families and our communities" and that "we will fight back against these harmful provisions with everything we've got."[21] Advocates for Trans Equality stated that it would continue to protect national transgender rights.[22] Asian Americans Advancing Justice also expressed its intention to "confront hate and discrimination in all its forms" regarding the order.[23] Lambda Legal chief legal officer Jennifer Pizer stated that she expects her organization and others to sue the administration.[24]
The National Organization for Women condemned Trump’s "extremist executive orders spree" and "scorecard of shame" that NOW said is "defined by cruelty, not common sense, and puts people in real danger."[25][non-primary source needed]
The National Council of Jewish Women and Keshet issued a joint statement condemning Trump's actions targeting the LGBTQ+ community for "seeking to erase federal recognition of trans people" and said that these actions are "designed to instigate fear and hatred. Executive orders are not law — they will be challenged. The Jewish community overwhelmingly supports LGBTQ+ equality and is committed to protecting, supporting, and welcoming the LGBTQ+ community. We will fight this harmful discrimination in the courts, in Congress, and through the regulatory process, with our many coalition partners to ensure equality and justice".[26][non-primary source needed]
The assertions of the executive order were described as being at odds with determinations of expert groups including the American Medical Association, which holds that gender identity is a spectrum, not an "immutable male-female binary".[2]
Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, issued a statement in support of the executive order stating in part "We are long overdue in this effort to reestablish the exclusivity of two genders...".[27]
Politicians and elected offices
Maryland's Attorney General Anthony Brown released a statement denouncing the order, stating that it would threaten peoples' lives, and that he aimed to "protect all Marylanders – especially members of marginalized communities – and wants transgender residents of our State to know that they belong, they matter, and our Office will fight for their rights and safety."[28]
International
According to Voice of America, the order received mixed reactions across Africa, with conservatives welcoming it and gay rights activists condemning it.[29]
See also
- 2020s anti-LGBTQ movement in the United States
- Adult human female
- History of transgender people in the United States
- Identity documents in the United States
- LGBTQ rights in the United States
- List of transgender-related topics
- Parental rights movement
- Transgender disenfranchisement in the United States
- Transgender history
- Transgender rights in the United States
- Transgender rights movement
- Transphobia in the United States
References
External links
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