Rhianna Benson
Thousands of LGBTQ+ Americans were left devastated last week when Donald Trump swore in his inauguration speech that the federal government would recognise 'only two genders' going forward.
And though some hoped it may have been an empty pledge on the Republican president's part, the Secretary of State has now issued a a new passport ban as Trump's administration gets the ball rolling on the controversial policy.
The new executive order in question - which 78-year-old Trump unveiled after being sworn in as 47th president of the US last Monday (20 Jan) - is titled 'Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government'.
The policy defines 'male' and 'female' as not being 'changeable' and 'grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality'.
Advert
It adds that sex will 'refer to an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female' in lieu of their gender identity'.
A male, as per the new legislation, will be defined as 'a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the small reproductive cell'.
And a female will be 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.
It is understood that once the new policy is officially implemented, this will see a huge change in education, healthcare and the military.
The order states: "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."
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.
As we say, while many American members of the LGBTQ+ community may have hoped the pledge would be overturned, a change to the US travel document application system will be used as a means of implementing the new policy.
Marco Rubio - Trump's newly-appointed Secretary of State - has now removed the opportunity for transgender and non-binary individuals to define their gender as 'X' on passport application forms.
Rubio's department was informed of the change in a cable sent on Thursday (23 Jan), which ruled that 'sex, and not gender, shall be used' in official documentation - including passports and birth records.
His staff were also instructed to 'suspend any application requesting an X sex marker', as well as any 'where the applicant is seeking to change their sex marker'.
Passports which had already been issued will not be recalled, but the option to continue defining their gender as 'X' in replaced or renewed passports will no longer be possible.
The cable also declared that 'guidance on existing passports containing an X sex marker will come via other channels'.
The new policy goes directly against legislation put into place by former Secretary of State Antony Blinken - who served under Democratic president Joe Biden for four years - and who rolled out passports with an 'X' gender marker in April 2022.
This was used as a means of defining 'unspecified or another gender identity'.
Prior to Monday's ceremony, Trump promised to order all federal agencies to end programmes that 'promote … gender transition at any age', and pledged to cut funding from hospitals providing gender-affirming care.
He also promised that federal law would rule that the US government not legally recognise trans people and rescind federal LGBTQ+ non-discrimination policies like housing, healthcare and employment.