Trump signs anti-trans executive order

President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring the federal government will only recognize two genders — male and female — shortly after returning to power January 20, prompting criticism from LGBTQ activists. The order may affect passports that have the "X" gender marker that was approved in 2022 by the Biden administration.

The order also has a narrow definition of male and female and declares that a person's sex is determined at conception.

Trump rescinded 78 Biden-era executive orders on his first day in office, including two that promoted diversity, equity, and inclusion in the federal government and non-discrimination against LGBTQ people, which former President Joe Biden signed on his first day in office in 2021, as the Bay Area Reporter reported at that time.

The gender order — titled "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government" — states that "'sex' shall refer to an individual's immutable biological classification as either male or female. 'Sex' is not a synonym for and does not include the concept of 'gender identity.'"

The Biden administration had interpreted federal civil rights statutes referring to sex as inclusive of gender identity.

But Trump has rejected that.

"Across the country, ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex have increasingly used legal and other socially coercive means to permit men to self-identify as women and gain access to intimate single-sex spaces and activities designed for women, from women's domestic abuse shelters to women's workplace showers," Trump's order states.

"This is wrong. Efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex fundamentally attack women by depriving them of their dignity, safety, and well-being," the order continues. "The erasure of sex in language and policy has a corrosive impact not just on women but on the validity of the entire American system."

The order also states that "passports, visas, and Global Entry cards" have to state the person's sex as the order defines it — at conception. The Biden administration had allowed self-selection of gender identity and an "X" marker on passports since 2022.

The move comes after an election campaign in which Trump ran against Democrats' policies inclusive of the transgender community, in particular, amid a resurgent nationwide backlash to LGBTQ rights. In the closing stretch of the 2024 campaign, a TV commercial with the tagline "Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you" (referring to Democratic presidential nominee then-vice president Kamala Harris) aired over 30,000 times and in every swing state. A Future Forward PAC analysis found it among the most effective of the campaign, swinging viewers 2.7% toward Trump after viewing it.

NOTUS reports a White House official said Monday's order was a first step and there'd be more moves on transgender rights to come. NOTUS reported Tuesday that the executive order is not retroactive. However, if government-issued documents need to be renewed, they must reflect the person's sex assigned at birth, according to the white House.

Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund was quick with a statement.

"We are prepared to challenge them in court." stated Lambda Legal CEO Kevin Jennings, a gay man.

"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 added. "The incoming administration has prioritized limiting protections against sex discrimination and abuse. Their appalling approach denies science and will make life immeasurably harder for intersex, nonbinary, and, of course, transgender people.

"Lambda Legal secured the first U.S. passport with an 'X' gender marker for our brave client, Dana Zzyym, and we'll continue to stand with Dana and all intersex, nonbinary, and transgender people to defend their right to identity documents that accurately identify who they are, and their equal protection rights against targeting and exclusion by their own government," he added.

LGBTQ California legislative leaders also stated they would work to fight the executive order.

"President Trump's executive order, while terrible, is not shocking," stated gay Assemblymember Chris Ward (D-San Diego), and lesbian state Senator Caroline Menjivar (D-San Fernando Valley), chair and vice chair of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, respectively.

"It is important for our community to remember that the impacts from these orders are neither immediate nor permanent," Ward and Menjivar continued. "It will take time for these orders to work through their respective federal agencies and there will be opportunities for California to weigh in on behalf of Transgender, Gender Nonconforming, and Intersex (TGI) people. When those opportunities arise we will be ready."

Bamby Salcedo, a trans woman who is founder of the TransLatin@ Coalition in Los Angeles, echoed those words, telling the B.A.R. in a January 21 phone interview, "I don't think this comes as a surprise to many of us. This is their rhetoric they have been using throughout the campaign."

"This is one of the things he ran with and using this rhetoric of protecting women's rights by banning all of us from participating in sports or having access to health care, all of those things, this is something they have been trying to do and now they're in power," Salcedo said. "Obviously, they're going to do whatever damage they can do but it's not going to last too long."

Chase Strangio, a trans man who is an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, spoke to some of the fears the trans community is experiencing.

"Trans people are bracing themselves for a lot of negative outcomes here, not just symbolic, but really material ones," Strangio said in a TV interview. "I know the community is scared. I know people are confused. And in this chaos, we just have to come together and build all the forms of resistance we know how to."

At a prayer service at the National Cathedral on January 21, the Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, spoke directly to Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance about LGBTQ people who were afraid.

"In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now," Budde said. "There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families. Some who fear for their lives."

Carlo Gomez Arteaga, a trans man who is co-executive director of the Transgender District in San Francisco, told the B.A.R. January 21 that "It's unfortunate that the president continues to scapegoat and target our community for political gains with his supporters while ignoring the material conditions that affect us all — accessible and affordable housing, food, and health care. We as transgender and gender expansive community have fought throughout history, and will continue to fight for our full dignity and live in our joy."