On his first day back in the White House, President Donald Trump announced that he would sign executive orders later on Monday targeting transgender and nonbinary Americans, signaling the start of what LGBTQ+ advocates warn will be an assault on civil rights. The orders will require federal agencies to recognize only two sexes—male and female—and eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs across government agencies, which threaten to strip away protections and, according to advocates, embolden discrimination nationwide.
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The orders, which Trump’s administration is calling part of a “restoring sanity” agenda, will direct federal agencies to enforce sex assigned at birth on documents such as passports and visas. According to NBC News, the orders will also end the use of taxpayer funds for gender-affirming care and require prisons, shelters, and other facilities to segregate people based on their gender assigned at birth rather than their gender identity.
Related: What to know about executive orders as Trump prepares to take office
“Every person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect in all areas of their lives,” Human Rights Campaign president Kelley Robinson said in a statement. “No one should be subjected to ongoing discrimination, harassment, and humiliation where they work, go to school, or access healthcare. But today’s expected executive actions targeting the LGBTQ+ community serve no other purpose than to hurt our families and our communities.”
The orders threaten immediate harm to transgender and nonbinary Americans, including forcing trans women out of women’s prisons and shelters, placing them at heightened risk of violence, NBC News reports. Transgender Americans with passports featuring an “X” gender marker, introduced under the Biden administration, could face detainment when returning to the U.S. if Customs and Border Protection officers cannot process the marker.
Related: Donald Trump to target transgender rights & diversity with dozens of ‘Day One’ executive orders
Lambda Legal chief legal officer Jennifer C. Pizer emphasized that these orders cannot erase the existence of transgender and nonbinary people. “The president can’t, with a wave of a pen, change the reality of who people are and the fact that we as a community of people exist,” Pizer told NBC News. “We have equal protection rights, just like anybody else does.”
While some changes could take months or years to implement due to regulatory processes, many provisions may be enacted immediately. Advocacy organizations like HRC and Lambda Legal have vowed to challenge the orders in court.
“Our community has fought for decades to ensure that our relationships are respected at work, that our identities are accepted at school, and that our service is honored in the military,” Robinson said. “Any attack on our rights threatens the rights of any person who doesn’t fit into the narrow view of how they should look and act.”
The LGBTQ+ youth crisis organization The Trevor Project emphasized the harm such orders will have on LGBTQ+ people, especially youth.
“One thing must be made clear: regardless of if, when, or how today’s anticipated anti-transgender executive order – and others like it – may be implemented, targeting the transgender and nonbinary community on day one will cause harm – especially for young people. No matter a person’s political beliefs, we know, from our research and from what LGBTQ+ young people tell us, that policies like these take a damaging toll on LGBTQ+ young people’s mental health. Supporting young people’s health and well-being transcends politics, and we urge all elected officials and the media to understand the dangers that anti-LGBTQ+ policies and rhetoric pose for LGBTQ+ youth across the country," Janson Wu, The Trevor Project's senior director of state advocacy and government affairs, said in a statement.
