Trump Executive Order Restricts Federal Recognition to Two Sexes, Reversing Biden Policies
In a swift move fulfilling a key campaign promise, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday that mandates the federal government recognize only two sexes, male and female, CNN reports.
This action overturns previous efforts by the Biden administration to broaden gender identity designations, particularly on official documents like passports.
“As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female,” Trump declared during his inaugural address.
The executive order, titled “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” asserts that sexes are “not changeable” and are “grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”
The order will replace the term “gender” with “sex” in all federal communications and documents, defining sex as “an individual’s immutable biological classification,” according to a Trump administration official. All government agencies are now directed to ensure that official documents, including passports, visas, and Global Entry cards, “accurately reflect the holder’s sex.”
Furthermore, the order mandates that federal departments overseeing prisons, migrant shelters, rape shelters, and other “intimate spaces” will protect single-sex spaces for privacy. Employee records will also adhere to the order, and federal departments will no longer “promote gender ideology” through communication channels and messaging.
The Trump administration also intends to review grants and contracts, stating that “federal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology.”
This executive order directly reverses initiatives by the Biden administration aimed at inclusivity regarding gender identification. In 2022, the State Department began allowing US citizens to select “X” as their gender marker on passports, with no requirement that this marker match other citizenship documents or photo IDs, nor requiring medical documentation.
The Biden administration also allowed Americans to change their sex identification with the Social Security Administration without medical certification, though the Social Security Administration still required a designation of male or female in their records systems.
