Donald Trump assumed office as the new president of the United States this Monday, and among his first executive orders is to revoke protection for transgender individuals and to only recognize male and female genders as the only “two sexes” in this country.
In this way, it will end Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs within the federal government that aimed to create a "more equitable" environment. The Trump administration argues that it is necessary to put an end to efforts of "social engineering based on race and gender in all aspects of public and private life," as reported by The Associated Press (AP).
With these orders, Donald Trump fulfills the promise he made during his presidential campaign regarding transgender individuals. Now, only those who were born with eggs or sperm will be recognized, and recognition will not be based on chromosomes. This means that in jails, immigration centers, and other institutions, only individuals will be recognized as male or female for accommodation purposes. However, it is still not defined if this will apply to public bathrooms, as some states have their own regulations.
“What we are doing today is defining that the United States policy is to recognize two sexes: male and female,” said an official from the new government cabinet, who pointed out that the measure is also to protect women from the “ideological gender extremism,” as reported by Página 12.
Elimination of diversity programs and other implications of Trump's measure
With the new measure, the United States government will end all DEI programs, and will also remove recognition of Transgender Visibility Day. Another implication is that taxpayer money will no longer be allocated for "transition services," a program that federal prison inmates have used for sex reassignment.
"We are going to put an end to this type of funding, we are going to end these programs," stated another official from Trump's team, asserting that now everything will be "more aligned with American values."
Another implication of Trump's new order is that they will eliminate the requirement to refer to transgender individuals by pronouns in government offices and workplaces. The new cabinet believes that this violates the First Amendment.
Diversity groups speak out about Trump's new measure.
Donald Trump supporters applaud the new orders against DEI programs, but other groups reject them, asserting that they are an attack on the rights of the LGBTQ population.
"“We are going to persevere, we are going to continue our work, and we are going to keep protecting trans rights across the country,” declared Ash Orr, spokesperson for Advocates for Trans Equality, as reported by AP last week."
The aforementioned news agency presented the statement made by Maya Wiley, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, who described Trump's orders as a setback.
"Dr. King had a dream, and this is his nightmare: the rollback of what our coalition has achieved in the area of civil rights and human rights over the past 75 years," Wiley expressed.