(Headline USA) President-elect Donald Trump will sign executive orders Monday rolling back controversial policies that promote transgenderism and terminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs within the federal government, incoming White House officials said.
On Trump’s first day in office, he will be effectively banning woke gender ideology and definitively answering the question of “what is a woman?” with an executive order. pic.twitter.com/HLjIOmNAVq
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) January 20, 2025
Both are in line with Trump’s campaign promises and mark dramatic departures from the identity politics that flourished during the Biden administration.
One order would declare that the federal government would recognize only two immutable sexes: male and female.
The definition will be based on whether people are born with eggs or sperm, rather than on their chromosomes. The change is being pitched as a way to protect women from “gender extremism.”
The official said it will mean the government will no longer recognize Transgender Day of Visibility, which fell on Easter in 2024, eliciting widespread criticism as President Joe Biden and others appeared to give preference to the woke holiday over the most sacred day on the Christian calendar..
Under the order, federal prisons and shelters for migrants and rape victims would be segregated by sex as defined by the order.
And federal taxpayer money could not be used to fund “transition services,” ending a growing trend of federal prison inmates who have demanded taxpayer-funded gender transitions have had treatments such as hormone therapy paid for with federal funds.
Medicaid in some states covers such treatments, but judges put on hold a Biden administration rule that would have extended that nationally.
The order would also block requirements at government facilities and at workplaces that transgender people be referred to using their preferred pronouns rather than those that align with their biological gender. Trump’s team says those requirements violate the First Amendment’s freedom of speech and religion.
The order does not appear to issue a nationwide mandate on which bathrooms transgender people can use or which sports competitions they can join, though many states have passed laws on those areas.
Activist groups were preparing to challenge Trump’s orders in court before he took office.
“We are gong to persevere, we’re going to continue in our work and we’re going to continue to protect trans rights throughout the country,” said Ash Orr, a spokesperson for Advocates for Trans Equality last week, anticipating such an order.
A separate order aims to halt federal agencies’ DEI programs. Conservatives have long condemned them, arguing they violate the Constitution by using preferences based on race, gender and sexual orientation. Trump got big cheers at a rally in Washington on Sunday when he said he’d end DEI requirements from the military and schools. The order does not appear to address what schools do, though.
Trump officials said it’s fitting the order is being delivered on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, as it aims to return to the idea that one day all Americans can be treated on the basis of their character and not by the color of their skin.
Businesses including Walmart, McDonalds and Meta, have already rolled back their diversity policies, some as soon mere weeks after the 2024 election.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
