People concerned as US Department of State removes two letters from LGBTQ+

Since returning to office last month, US President Donald Trump has signed more than 50 executive orders - the most in a president's first 100 days in more than 40 years - many of which affect the LGBTQ+ community.

Trump has always made his views about gender very clear, after previously stating there will 'only be two genders' under his government, and he recently signed a controversial order to ban transgender athletes from competing in girls' and women's sports, denying federal funding to schools that allow it.

The ban read: "Many educational institutions and athletic associations have allowed men to compete in women’s sports.

"This is demeaning, unfair and dangerous to women and girls, and denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports."

(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The policy states it will 'oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports more broadly, as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity and truth.'

With the rights of transgender individuals at risk, the LGBTQ+ community is understandably worried and has become even more concerned after the US Department of State removed two letters from its name.

In a post shared to Reddit's r/NonBinary thread, one user noticed that the T and Q had been removed on the US Department of State's website, sharing a screenshot that read: "LGB Travellers.'

Other worried users then took to the comments to share their thoughts.

One person wrote: "Before you know it, they will get rid of the entire acronym."

Another said: "Jesus f***ing Christ I didn't think I'd ever see them actually pull off the f***ing "lgb without the t", what a scary f***ing time to be trans right now man I honestly don't know how I'm going to get through this, these two weeks have already been immensely mentally taxing."

Now, the US Department of State has removed T and Q from LGBTQ+ information on its website (Reddit)

And a third noted a further change to the website, commenting: "Also important to note, they removed all of LGBTQIA+ from the traveler's checklist.

"Yet they aren't updating the last updated date at the bottom of the page. So that is also really concerning."

A fourth user replied: "Wait what? Not updating the date is a lot more devious and blatant than I was expecting."

What are Trump's other 'anti-LGBTQ+' policies?

Legislation against gender transitions/treatment for under 19s

Trump vowed to 'protect kids from chemical and surgical mutilation', which is understood to be a swipe against gender transitions treatments and procedures for individuals under 19.

The order says: "It is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called 'transition' of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures."

Legally recognising male and female as the 'only genders'

One of Trump's first executive orders was to establish male and female as the 'only two genders' to be legally recognised by the federal government.

His order reads: "Agencies will cease pretending that men can be women and women can be men when enforcing laws that protect against sex discrimination.

"These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality. Under my direction, the Executive Branch will enforce all sex-protective laws to promote this reality."

Ending wasteful' government programmes which promote diversity

His order recognising only 'two genders' also pledges to bring to an end 'wasteful' government programmes which promote diversity and inclusivity, as well as 'defending women from gender ideology extremism'.

Revoking the 1965 Equal Employment Opportunity Act

Trump has revoked the 1965 Equal Employment Opportunity Act, which previously promoted opportunities for women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ people and other underrepresented groups within society.

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, you can contact the LGBT Foundation on 0345 3 30 30 30, 10am–6pm Monday to Friday, or email [email protected]