1. Executive Order on Gender Definition
- On Monday, President Trump signed an executive order redefining gender in U.S. government policies.
- The order limits the definition of gender to biological sex assigned at birth and excludes gender identity from official recognition.
- The executive order defines sex as either male or female, determined by the reproductive cells present at birth.
- Gender ideology is explicitly rejected, with the order asserting that sex and gender are distinct and cannot be used interchangeably.
- The potential consequences include withholding federal funding from programs that acknowledge transgender or nonbinary identities.
2. Reactions from Experts and Advocacy Groups
- Medical experts and legal professionals criticize the order for disregarding scientific understanding of sex and gender.
- Kellan E. Baker, a health expert, argues that sex is not a binary, immutable trait but a complex cluster of characteristics.
- The Centers for Disease Control defines sex as a biological status that may not always align with birth-assigned categories, especially for intersex individuals.
- The LGBTQ civil rights group Lambda Legal is preparing to challenge the executive order, which they see as discriminatory against transgender and intersex people.
- Jenny Pizer, Lambda’s chief legal officer, warned that the order could limit recognition of nonbinary, transgender, and intersex individuals across federal programs.
3. Impact on Intersex and Transgender Communities
- The executive order excludes intersex individuals, who may have differences in sex development that do not fit typical male or female traits.
- Intersex traits such as chromosomes, gonads, and hormones may not match traditional gender categories, and this reality is overlooked in the order.
- The executive order could lead to further marginalization of transgender and nonbinary individuals, potentially excluding them from accurate identification in federal systems.
- The order could limit access to services and protections for those whose gender identity does not align with the traditional binary classification.
4. The Order’s Broader Implications
- The order claims to preserve the biological reality of sex, contrasting this with gender identity which it sees as an evolving social concept.
- It emphasizes that recognizing gender as a flexible category could undermine sex-based rights and policies designed to protect women.
- The administration could seek to exclude or mistreat gender-diverse individuals in various government programs, with potential legal challenges likely.
- Legal experts, like Jenny Pizer, are preparing for actions to combat the order’s impact on gender identity and recognition across federal agencies.
5. Revoking Previous Policies and LGBTQ Rights History
- The executive order also revokes a Biden administration rule allowing nonbinary individuals to mark an “X” gender option on U.S. passports.
- The 2022 State Department rule, which recognized the identity of intersex and gender-nonconforming individuals, has now been overturned.
- Trump’s actions echo past policies from his first term that restricted LGBTQ rights, such as the military ban on transgender service members and repealing non-discrimination protections.
- Advocacy groups, including Lambda Legal, have vowed to continue fighting for the rights of transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people in the face of these policy changes.
