Within hours of reclaiming the presidency on Monday, United States President Donald Trump signed an extensive executive order that aims to dismantle essential protections for transgender individuals and explicitly denies the legitimacy of gender identity.
This sweeping directive revokes multiple executive orders established by former President Joe Biden. Among these are policies that allowed transgender individuals to serve in the military, promoted the well-being of LGBTQ+ youth, and expanded federal protections against sex-based discrimination in areas such as education, housing, and immigration—ensuring that sexual orientation and gender identity were recognised under anti-discrimination laws.
The order mandates that the U.S. government only acknowledge two biological sexes, male and female, assigned at birth. Additionally, it instructs federal agencies to eliminate references to and considerations of gender identity across government operations. This shift could have profound consequences for transgender people, affecting access to crucial federal programs and modifying identification documents such as passports, which currently allow transgender and nonbinary individuals to reflect their gender identity.
Furthermore, the order threatens to cut federal funding for any programs that endorse what it describes as “gender ideology,” a term frequently utilized by conservative movements in Europe and Latin America to oppose the recognition of transgender individuals and broader sexual and reproductive rights.
Many aspects of this executive order are likely to face legal challenges due to their direct contradiction of federal law and existing judicial rulings. However, the breadth of the directive makes clear the administration’s intent to marginalize transgender people, stripping them of basic rights and protections.
This order exacerbates these existing issues, placing transgender people at an even greater risk of harm and exclusion.
In response to this alarming development, Right Defender Initiative (RDI) strongly opposes this executive order and calls for immediate action to ensure the protection of transgender rights. We urge lawmakers across the political spectrum to reaffirm that transgender individuals deserve to live free from discrimination. It is imperative to enshrine these fundamental rights into law, ensuring lasting and meaningful protections for all members of the LGBTQ+ community.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/01/23/trump-administration-moves-reject-transgender-identity-rights
