Trump's New Executive Order Only Recognizes Two Sexes: Male and Female
On his first day in office (January 20th, 2025), President Trump issued the executive order, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” also known as the “Two Sexes” executive order.
​
First, this order claims that there are only two biological sexes: male and female. Second, it prevents the executive branch from using gender identity as a basis for categorization and identification. In other words, if the government considers a person’s sex, it must do so based on a person’s biological sex, not their gender identity. Third, the order freezes federal funding of programs that promote “gender ideology.” Fourth, it overthrows President Biden’s executive orders and agency guidance that promote “gender” as a concept distinct from biological sex.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
President Trump outlined immediate actions that his cabinet secretaries must carry out regarding his Two Sexes policy. He demanded that the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management limit the options for how a person’s sex can be listed on government-issued identifications to solely male and female. Agencies are also required to ensure that rape shelters, prisons, and other intimate areas are segregated by sex, not gender identity.​
​
Some applications of President Trump’s executive order have been challenged in court. A judge issued a temporary restraining order allowing medical transition treatments for transgender prisoners to continue and pausing the movement of male prisoners who identify as female into men’s federal prisons, noting that the transgender plaintiffs showcased a likelihood of irreversible harm.
​
If the Two Sexes policy ends up being limited by courts, President Trump may seek more permanent ways to implement it. To avoid challenges under the Administrative Procedure Act, President Trump can instruct agencies to issue proposed rules for notice and comment. President Trump has already ordered the Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs to write a bill to modify the federal definitions of male and female.
​
The Two Sexes executive order does not note anything about school. President Trump will likely have executive branch revisits enforcing his executive order, including further orders separating sports teams by sex, and future guidance from the Department of Education on school policies, such as separating locker rooms and bathrooms by sex.