Tracking Trump's executive orders: Targeting trans Americans

Executive Order 14168: Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government
Date Signed: January 20, 2025

Key Provisions:

• Executive Order 14168 orders the government to recognize only two sexes, male and female, according to the gender assigned to an individual at birth and will not recognize “gender identity” in an official capacity
• Executive Order 14168 further aims to “protect privacy for women” by maintaining single-sex spaces, including bathrooms/lockerrooms, shelters, and detention and correctional facilities. Additionally, no federal funds will be allocated to promote gender identity, which includes revising policies and services, one of which being the revocation of allowing federal funds to provide hormone blockers, drugs, and other treatments to those in correctional facilities
• They will also rescind multiple government-published documents on protecting transgender citizens, such as “The White House Toolkit on Transgender Equality”, among others

Interfaith Alliance Counterpoints:

• Interfaith Alliance believes that the decision to only recognize two sexes, based on the gender assigned at birth, directly harms transgender and non-binary individuals. While we understand the importance of safe spaces, we are deeply concerned that enforcing strict sex-based designations in shelters, bathrooms, and detention facilities can endanger transgender individuals, putting an already at-risk group in danger of facing violence.
• Additionally, we are concerned about the administration's efforts not to allow transgender prisoners to take hormone blockers while detained, as this has been established as a cruel and unusual punishment, as designated in Fields v. Smith. Sudden withdrawals from these medicines can cause serious side effects in addition to being ethically cruel.
• Rescinding critical resources, such as "The White House Toolkit on Transgender Equality," is a setback for human rights and equality. Interfaith Alliance believes these documents and policies are crucial in advancing protections and opportunities for transgender and non-binary individuals. The decision to undo these protections sends a harmful message and undermines years of work to create more inclusive policies that foster dignity, respect, and equality for all citizens, regardless of their gender identity.