What Donald Trump’s controversial ‘two-gender’ policy actually means for LGBTQ+ community
Donald Trump has had a busy first few days back in the White House.
Trump was sworn in as 47th president of United States on Monday (20 January) and has made quick work of a few executive orders - all of which covered various topics from changing the requirements surrounding birthright citizenship, pulling out of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and pardoning a number of January 6 rioters.
And one of his orders pertains to the matter of biological sex and gender identity - with male and female to be the 'two genders' legally recognised by the federal government.
What is the 'two gender' executive order?
The order, titled 'Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government', defines 'male' and 'female' as not being 'changeable' and are 'grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality'.
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It further states that sex will 'refer to an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female' in lieu of their gender identity, with male being defined as 'a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the small reproductive cell', while female is defined as 'a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the large reproductive cell' - though many have pointed out that the wording of this technically makes every single American female.
Federal agencies have 120 days to implement this policy change, which could signal big alterations in education, healthcare and the military.
"Agencies shall remove all statements, policies, regulations, forms, communications, or other internal and external messages that promote or otherwise inculcate gender ideology, and shall cease issuing such statements, policies, regulations, forms, communications or other messages. Agency forms that require an individual’s sex shall list male or female, and shall not request gender identity. Agencies shall take all necessary steps, as permitted by law, to end the Federal funding of gender ideology." it states.
How will this order impact the LGBTQ+ community?
The order has received huge condemnation from LGBTQ+ organisations and charities.
Kevin Jennings, the CEO of Lambda Legal which specialises in LGBTQ+ civil rights, saying (via The Independent): “Their appalling approach denies science and will make life immeasurably harder for intersex, non-binary, and of course, transgender people.”
Because Trump's definition of gender is reliant on the biological sex a person is assigned at birth, this doesn't align with many transgender and non-binary people's gender identity.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), trans people update the sex designation on their government-issued documents, such as passports and visas, to match their gender identity, therefore requiring them to identify their biological sex 'effectively outs them as transgender whenever they have to present the document' - or even restrict them from getting new documents altogether, as the order isn't retroactive.
Whilst state issued documents like driver’s licenses and birth certificates aren’t mandated to deny gender identity requests, it still operates on uncertain grounds.
ACLU also add that this will affect transgender people in federal prison and 'enforce a blanket policy forcing transgender women into men’s prisons and detention centers against their will', as well as restricting trans healthcare in prison, too.
The order also encourages federal agencies to ignore Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which impacts gender or sexuality-based discrimination, which Brandon Wolf, the national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, says 'could open a transgender or non-binary person up to misgendering, harassment, and humiliation at work – simply for being themselves'.
However, as well as LGBTQ+ people, this order could also affect cisgender people, particularly cis women.
It states that 'women are biologically distinct from men', which could affect women who do not fit within expected 'gender norms' from accessing women's spaces, such as bathrooms, Senior Director of the Human Rights Campaign, Cathryn Oakley, told The Independent.
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics
Ben Thompson