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US President Donald Trump will immediately issue executive orders slashing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and declare that the US government will recognize only two genders – male and female – that cannot be changed, a new White House official said on Monday. .
The official, who spoke just hours before the 78-year-old Trump sworn in as president for the second time, added that more actions on DEI programs are expected “very soon”.
“This week I will also end the government’s policy of attempting to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life,” Trump he said in his inaugural speechas he returned to power after four years out of the Oval Office.
“We will forge a color-blind, merit-based society … Starting today, the official policy of the United States government will be that there are only two genders: male and female,” Trump said.
The Trump administration plans to review and potentially end what the official described as “discriminatory programs,” including environmental justice grants and diversity training initiatives. Full details of the planned steps to reverse the order or when they would be announced were not immediately disclosed.
DEI’s impending withdrawal and Trump’s inauguration coincide with this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. commemorating the late civil rights leader.
Challenges to come
Advocates and civil and human rights groups immediately vowed to protect minorities and challenge Trump’s plan.
“We refuse to back down or be intimidated. We are not going anywhere and will fight these harmful provisions with everything we have,” said Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ+ rights advocacy group. in the US, in the statement.
Rights advocates said any rollback by Trump of DEI and transgender rights would be a blow to efforts to ensure fair policies and undermine progress made in addressing systemic biases that have denied equal opportunities to marginalized groups for decades.
“We will continue our relentless efforts to protect the rights of immigrants, fight voter suppression, and oppose hate and discrimination in all forms,” Asian Americans Advancing Justice said in a statement.
Many corporations — including Target, McDonald’s and Walmart — have distanced themselves from DEI’s measures, with some withdrawing DEI’s initiatives and programs in recent weeks. Meanwhile, companies such as Costco and Apple have remained determined to maintain their commitment to DEI.
New expectations for federal employers
The Trump administration would recognize only two genders, male and female, which are immutable, and would direct federal employers to use the term sex rather than gender, which can refer to gender norms and identity, a new White House official said in a background briefing .
The U.S. official, without elaborating, also said federal funds would not be used for gender-affirming care.
Federal policy on transgender health care is heavily influenced by Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, which prohibits discrimination in health care based on sex.
In his first term, Trump issued regulations weaken that sectionwhich has regained strength under US President Joe Biden.
The Trump administration also planned to limit the scope of a major victory for transgender rights under the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling Bostock v. Clayton County, in which the high court found that civil rights protections against “sex-based” discrimination apply to sexuality and gender identity.
The attorney general will provide specific guidance on how to apply Bostock, the official said.
A recurring Republican focus
Transgender rights have become a contentious political issue in recent years. During the November election season, many Republicans campaigned to repeal the transgender law with a particular focus on transgender women who participate in sports. Related messages were at the heart of some ads put out by the Trump campaign and groups that support him, which spent millions of dollars together to spread those ads late in the campaign.
During a pre-inauguration rally on Sunday, Trump said he would take action to “keep all the men out of women’s sports.”
It was not immediately clear what the executive orders would mean for the US military. During his first term, Trump announced that he would ban transgender troops from military service, and his administration froze the hiring of transgender personnel. Biden annulled that decision when he took office in 2021.
Brian Kalt, a constitutional law professor at Michigan State University, said that while presidents have executive powers, some of the actions Trump has promised to enact — such as ending birthright citizenship — “will face an uphill battle in court.”
