The Trump White House cannot announce a person’s gender
US President Donald Trump will kill Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs and declare that the US government will recognize only two genders – male and female – that cannot be changed, a White House official said on Monday.
The official, speaking hours before Trump was sworn in as the 47th president, said further actions on DEI programs were expected “soon.”
“This week I am ending the government’s policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life,” Trump said in his opening remarks.
“We will create a color-blind, meritocracy-based society … Starting today, the official policy of the United States government is that men and women are only men and women,” Trump said.
The Trump administration plans to review and end what the official described as “discriminatory programs,” including environmental justice grants and diversity training initiatives. Full details of the proposed steps to rescind the orders and when they would be announced were not immediately available.
DEI’s impending reinstatement and Trump’s inauguration coincide with this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday commemorating the late civil rights leader.
Possible challenges
Civil and human rights activists and groups immediately pledged to protect minorities and oppose Trump’s agenda.
Kelly Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ+ advocacy group, said: “We refuse to back down or be intimidated. We’re not going anywhere and we’re going to fight these harmful provisions with everything we can get.” In America, In the statement.
Activists say any rollback of DEI and transgender rights by Trump would undermine efforts to enact fair policies and address systemic prejudice that has denied marginalized groups equal opportunity for decades.
“We will continue our tireless efforts to protect the rights of immigrants, fight voter suppression, and confront hate and discrimination in all its forms.
Many corporations, including Meta, McDonalds and Walmart – some DEI initiatives and programs have distanced themselves from DEI measures in recent weeks. Meanwhile, companies like Costco and Apple have remained steadfast in their commitment to DEI.
New expectations for federal employers
The Trump administration recognizes only two immutable genders, male and female, and instructs federal employers to use the word gender, not gender, which can refer to gender norms and identity, a White House official said in a statement released on the background. .
The U.S. official said federal funds will not be used on gender verification, without providing specifics.
Federal policy on transgender health care is primarily governed by Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, which prohibits discrimination in health care based on sex.
During his first term in office, Trump enacted regulations to weaken that class, which has been strengthened again under US President Joe Biden.
The Trump administration plans to limit the scope of the 2020 US Supreme Court ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, a major victory for transgender rights, when the high court found that civil rights protections against discrimination apply “on the basis of sex,” sexuality and gender identity.
The attorney general will provide clear instructions on how to implement Bostock, the official said.
Frequent Republican attention
Gender rights have become a controversial political topic in recent years. During the November election season, many Republicans campaigned on overturning transgender laws. There was relevant messaging in some of the ads by the Trump campaign and supporters groups, who spent millions of dollars to air these ads late in the campaign.
At an undergraduate rally on Sunday, Trump said he would take action to “take all the men out of women’s sports.”
It was not immediately clear what the executive order meant for the US military. During his first term in office, Trump announced that he would ban transgender soldiers from serving in the military, and the administration has suspended the recruitment of transgender personnel. Biden in 2010 He reversed that decision when he took office in 2021.
Brian Kalt, a constitutional law professor at Michigan State University, said that while presidents have executive powers, some of Trump’s promised actions — such as ending birthright citizenship — “will face tough court battles.”
