On Monday, January 20, 2025, the Trump White House issued numerous executive orders, and several affect those in the LGBTQIA community. One executive order rescinds many of the orders issued during the Biden presidency, including Executive Order 13988, Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation. This Biden-era order specifies that “[a]ll persons should receive equal treatment under the law, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation.” The Trump Administration not only intends to wipe out those protections through the rescission of Biden’s order, but the new administration also aims to take discrimination a step further.
One of the new executive orders the Trump White House issued Monday is an order intended to address “gender ideology extremism.” This order endeavors to define a specific “biological reality of sex” and ignores science as well as the lived experiences of hundreds of thousands of Americans. The Academy unequivocally denounces the language and intent of this executive order and reaffirms the fact of transgender, intersex, and gender-diverse lives.
Although we do not yet know all the precise implications of these executive orders, especially as they apply to access to and coverage of transgender and gender-diverse care, the Academy will be watching closely to understand how this order may affect providers and patients and will respond accordingly. In the meantime, because of the nature of executive orders, many legal and policy experts will likely need to determine how the order applies in a practical way across a host of government agencies and programs. What we do know, though, is the order pertaining to gender is intended to vilify and deny the very personhood of transgender and gender-diverse people. We denounce this in the strongest way and the Academy will continue its efforts to ensure equitable and accessible care for all people.
