Executive Orders Impacting Transgender People & Their Loved Ones
Starting on day one, the new administration signed executive orders that strip rights, deny medical care, and put transgender people in harm’s way. These policies are disguised in protective language, filled with misleading phrases, and taken almost verbatim from the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 agenda. They distort faith, deny science, and ignore the lived experiences of transgender people. They also have implications for the erosion of rights for all Americans. Below is a brief summary of each, including some of its implications. Please be aware that I’ve chosen to quote some of the orders’ harmful rhetoric to highlight the severity of the situation. PFLAG offers an explainer without quoting the harmful language.
Executive Order on Recognizing Only Two Sexes (January 20, 2025): Titled “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government,” this order mandates that the federal government recognize only two immutable sexes, male and female, as determined at conception. (Medical professionals have pointed out that sex is not differentiated at conception.) The executive order directs federal agencies to replace the term "gender" with "sex" in official documents and policies, ceases funding for gender-affirming care, and prohibits the use of gender identity in determining access to single-sex facilities. This first order paved the way for the following orders to escalate to new levels of dehumanization. (Read more at reuters.com)
The order has had serious consequences, such as The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission not pursuing lawsuits that allege employment discrimination against transgender people, despite the Supreme Court ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County that transgender people are protected from discrimination in employment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The Pediatric Endocrine Society addressed the implications for people born with biological conditions known as Differences of Sex Development, saying, “The information provided by the Executive Order overlooks the reality of variations in biology and physiology by oversimplifying complex biological processes.” They warn that such erasure will have a negative impact on medical care and well-being.
Executive Order Banning Transgender Individuals from Military Service (January 27, 2025): Titled “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness.” This order prohibits individuals who identify as a gender different from their birth sex from serving or enlisting in the U.S. military, citing concerns about unit cohesion and military readiness. It also eliminates Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs within the armed forces. This ban on military service crossed into new territory by attacking the honor, integrity, and worth of transgender service members. (Read more at Erin in the Morning and nypost.com.)
Executive Order Targeting Military Hiring Practices and Education (January 27, 2025): Titled “Restoring America's Fighting Force” impacts the Department of Defense, Homeland Security and Coast Guard, and the Armed Forces, including educational institutions under the Department of Defense. It claims that equitable hiring practices for women and people of color undermine “leadership, merit, and unit cohesion” and weaken the military, and it claims hiring inclusivity is discrimination. It continues the practice of classifying facts it does not recognize as ‘un-American.’
This order has led the military to stop sexual assault prevention and reporting training, and has hamstrung the program that was charged with preventing sexual assault. There are concerns these actions might discourage assault survivors from reporting abuse. It has also led to books removed from schools run by the The Department of Defense Education Activity that serves 67,000 American children. Instructional materials for Black History Month are among the censored or removed materials. Clubs have also been disbanded, such as the Society of Women Engineers at Westpoint.
Executive Order Restricting Gender-Affirming Care for People Under 19 (January 28, 2025): Titled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” which is false and alarmist rhetoric. This directive bans federal funding and support for gender-affirming medical treatments for individuals under 19, including puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgical procedures. It labels such treatments as "chemical and surgical mutilation," which is untrue, and instructs federal agencies to ensure that institutions receiving federal funds do not provide these services to minors. (Read more at verywellhealth.com. Read about a federal district court blocking enforcement of this order.)
Executive Order Impacting Educators and School Counsellors (January 30, 2025): Titled "Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling," this order targets educational content related to racial justice and transgender student policies. It mandates the development of an "Ending Indoctrination Strategy" and threatens legal action against educators who support social transitioning for transgender students by using their names or desired pronouns. (Read more at them.us.)
Executive Order Banning Transgender Girls and Women from Sports (February 5, 2025): Titled “Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports,” which is an erasure and insult to transgender women. Based on inaccurate assumptions not supported by data, this executive order seeks to bar all transgender girls and women from participating in sports by rescinding “all funds” from educational programs and involving the Department of Justice in enforcement of the ban. The administration plans to send propaganda against transgender women in sports to State Attorneys General. Furthermore, they want to force “major athletic organizations” in the United States to comply, pressure the Olympic Committee to change its standards, and promote this approach at the United Nations. By involving the Secretary of State and Secretary of Homeland Security, they seek to “adjust, as needed” entry into the United States of transgender women who might wish to participate in sports. This executive order ignores transgender men while painting transgender women as a threat “which results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy.” The underlying belief appears to be that when cis-women and cis-men operate in the same field, it is the inevitable result that women should be endangered, humiliated, silenced, and deprived of privacy.
These executive orders have been met with opposition from civil rights organizations, LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, medical professionals, faith leaders, service members, and families who argue that they undermine the rights and well-being of transgender individuals. There are already legal challenges to these orders. Enforcement of the care ban was temporarily blocked by a federal district court on February 13. State legislation that protects care still stands.
I am thankful for the ongoing work by advocates, attorneys, faith leaders, and community organizations. These executive orders do not stop the good work of many helpers. We can support our local organizations by listening to their needs and acting on their requests for help.