What The Hell America!

Federal agencies are carrying out executive orders from President Donald Trump that all share a common goal: removing transgender and nonbinary people from public life wherever possible. Through restricting access to accurate federal identity documents, threatening to withhold hospitals’ federal funding over gender-affirming care, and erasing trans history on federal websites and in schools, the Trump White House is using the federal government as a tool to make it harder for trans Americans to live openly — and safely — without fear of harassment and discrimination. 

Many of these policies are based on Trump’s promise, made during his inauguration speech, that his administration will recognize only “two genders, male and female.” That promise was signed into an executive order on day one of his presidency. 

LGBTQ+ rights attorneys are fighting back. Ten lawsuits have been taken up against the Trump administration’s anti-trans policies so far, and four have resulted in temporary restraining orders that pause enforcement. In court, federal judges are regarding Trump’s anti-trans executive orders with skepticism and, in some instances, outright disdain. Through it all, trans Americans are experiencing chaos and confusion — as well as fear and despair — as a result of these policies. 

This push to erase trans identity isn’t new. For years, Republican state lawmakers across the country have introduced laws to stop transgender adults and minors from being legally recognized in public life, to redefine legal definitions of sex to exclude trans people, and to block them from the health care and identity documents that they need. Now, that effort is being pursued by a sitting president. 

As The 19th covers how this administration is impacting women and LGBTQ+ people, we will be closely reporting on the anti-trans policies enacted by the Trump administration and their effects nationwide. Here are the key anti-trans policies enacted by the Trump White House and their impact so far.

Passports denied | School censorship | Gender-affirming care restrictions | Banning trans girls from school sports | Military ban reinstated | Erasing trans history and resources | Funding slashed for LGBTQ+ programs | Treatment of trans people in federal prison 

Passports denied

The State Department is blocking new passports for trans and nonbinary Americans. U.S. passports with “X” gender markers will no longer be issued, although the agency has stated that existing passports with an “X” marker are valid until replaced or expired. 

In practice, this means that trans people trying to obtain passports with a gender marker that matches their physical appearance, gender identity and other identity documents are being rejected. Trans men and transmasculine people are receiving passports back from the agency that declare them to be women, while trans women and transfeminine people are getting passports that state they are male. 

Trans people are worried that they will be unable to travel abroad with these passports, and more are worried about inconsistent documentation causing them to experience harassment when they travel through airports or other checkpoints.  

In addition, trans people like Ash Lazarus Orr, a trans activist living in West Virginia, say that the State Department has kept their documentation with no indication of when it will be returned. The agency kept Orr’s passport, birth certificate and marriage license after they applied for a name and gender update. Now, Orr is suing, alongside other trans people represented by the ACLU. The department has not responded to a request for comment regarding Orr’s situation.

School censorship  

President Trump has directed the federal government to begin a campaign to monitor and influence K-12 curriculum. This includes eliminating federal funding for schools that promote “indoctrination” based on “gender ideology and discriminatory equity ideology.” 

This directive isn’t new, although it uses new language. Since 2020, Republicans in red states have tried to restrict teaching critical race theory, Black history, intersectionality and social justice — and bills to restrict how teachers can discuss gender identity and sexual orientation are intertwined with this effort. Florida’s curriculum censorship law, nicknamed “Don’t Say Gay” by LGBTQ+ advocates, is likely the most well-known example of state LGBTQ+ education restrictions. 

Trump’s order also prohibits recognition of students’ gender identity, such as by using their correct pronouns, and exposes teachers and staff who support trans students to legal actions by the attorney general. It threatens federal funding for schools that allow trans students to use restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity, as well as schools that “deliberately conceal” a child’s trans identity from their parents. 

According to the Williams Institute at UCLA, discrimination and harassment will probably increase against transgender students and negatively affect their health if schools comply with this order. It puts trans students at risk of being rejected by their families or abused at home if they are outed to parents who are hostile to their trans identity.  

Gender-affirming care restrictions

Hospitals in blue states like Massachusetts and New York, where gender-affirming care is protected under state law, stopped providing that care to trans adolescents and young trans adults following an executive order signed by Trump in late January. That’s according to a lawsuit against the administration by major LGBTQ+ advocacy groups. Two federal judges have temporarily blocked enforcement of Trump’s order — but health care access for young trans people in the United States is still largely uncertain. 

Some clinics have yet to resume services. Others have taken steps to remove public references to the trans health services that they do still offer, to avoid government scrutiny and federal funding cuts. In other cases, trans patients are being denied equal treatment while still technically receiving the same services. 

One trans adult who receives care at NYU Langone Health told The 19th that, following Trump’s executive orders, his deadname has been used almost exclusively by the hospital in patient communications, during his appointments and on his medical chart. He spoke on condition of anonymity, out of fear of losing access to his health care for speaking out. Because of these complications, he is currently unable to coordinate with his surgeon at Mount Sinai about the potential spread of endometriosis in his body —  his MRI results from NYU Langone all use his deadname. If he uses an MRI with incorrect personal information, he’s not sure if that will cause issues with insurance coverage. The hospital has not responded to a request for comment.

Banning trans girls from school sports

After Trump signed an executive order seeking the Justice Department’s help to enforce a ban on trans girls playing sports with other girls in school, the largest college sports governing body quickly fell in line. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has banned trans women student-athletes from competing in women’s sports, following Trump’s order threatening federal funds for schools that allow trans girls on girls’ teams.

But to Trump’s allies, and his government, that doesn’t go far enough. 

The Education Department has urged the NCAA, as well as the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), to strip titles, records and awards from transgender women who have competed in women’s sports, per NBC News. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is also suing the NCAA in the hopes that a court will order the organization to “immediately begin screening the sex of student athletes.”

The Williams Institute, a leading researcher in LGBTQ+ policy, notes that the scope of this executive order could impact trans students who are not in school sports, since gym class is typically mandatory in many K-12 grades. 

Military ban reinstated 

On January 20, Trump rescinded Biden-era policies that cleared the way for transgender people to serve openly in the military. A week later, he instructed the Department of Defense to update its guidance on transgender military service, effectively barring transgender people from service. The administration is now facing a federal lawsuit, and U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, signaling that she would block the ban, accused the Department of Justice of “unadulterated animus” or categorical hostility toward transgender service members. 

The military is the largest employer in the United States, and trangender people are historically twice as likely to serve as their cisgender peers. If Trump’s order is allowed to take effect, it is expected to result in one of the largest layoffs of transgender people in American history, with thousands losing their jobs. 

Erasing trans history and resources

As part of Trump’s mandate against “gender ideology,” public health data was quickly removed from federal government websites. That included decades of HIV research, data on the mental health of girls and LGBTQ+ youth, and information on tobacco use among LGBTQ+ people. Some of these webpages have since reappeared in response to public outcry and a federal judge’s order that they be restored.  

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention purged terms like “transgender” and “pregnant person” from its websites, and the State Department removed references to queer and transgender people from its online resource portal for LGBTQ+ travelers. The Social Security Administration removed all mentions of trans and intersex people from its resource page about social security benefits for LGBTQ+ people.

In a move that generated days of protest in New York City, the National Park Service deleted all references to transgender people from its web page honoring the 1969 Stonewall uprising in New York City — arguably the most well-known moment from LGBTQ+ history in the United States. The agency said it had to follow Trump’s executive order equating trans identity with “gender ideology extremism.” 

Funding slashed for LGBTQ+ programs  

LGBTQ+ nonprofits say that their services for vulnerable community members are threatened by the Trump administration’s push to pause federal funding, as well as the administration’s specific effort to revoke federal funding related to trans people. 

Michael Adams, CEO of SAGE, the world’s largest organization that supports LGBTQ+ older people, told The 19th that its services are directly threatened. That includes his organization’s network of U.S. centers for older LGBTQ+ adults that provide hot meals and other basic services — which are sorely needed, since LGBTQ+ elders face high levels of social isolation and poverty. 

Organizations that provide services to LGBTQ+ victims of domestic and intimate partner violence also expect much of their federal funding to dry up as a result of Trump’s executive orders.

Although a federal judge has temporarily halted the broad funding cuts imposed by the Trump administration, SAGE’s program to support LGBTQ+ elders in other countries, formerly funded by the State Department, has already been indefinitely suspended, Adams said. That suspension came soon after Trump was sworn into office. 

In a recent lawsuit, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and San Francisco Community Health Center say that Trump’s executive orders and proposed funding cuts threaten their free HIV testing and prevention programs and would force them to turn away clients. The GLBT Historical Society, another member in the lawsuit, says that it relies on federal funding to preserve LGBTQ+ history — and that Trump’s executive orders would lead to priceless archives being lost. 

Treatment of trans people in federal prison 

Most incarcerated trans people are subjected to abuse in prison. The Trump administration’s policies are expected to make that situation worse. 

To comply with President Trump’s order opposing trans identity as a whole — which mandated that trans people in prison be treated according to their sex assigned at birth — male guards can now enforce pat-down searches on trans women, who are prohibited from buying women’s clothing and taking gender-affirming, feminizing hormones. The Bureau of Prisons is beginning to move incarcerated trans women into men’s housing — which the women say will further expose them to sexual and physical violence. 

While transgender people have been frequently placed in the wrong housing in federal prisons based on their sex at birth, the Biden administration took steps over the last four years to house trans people on a case-by-case basis, where they would be safest. The Prison Rape Elimination Act, passed by Congress, mandates that prisons and jails house transgender people based on safety concerns. Two federal judges have blocked the Trump administration from transferring a handful of trans women to men’s facilities, although these lawsuits have not halted enforcement of the new housing policy wholesale. The faceoff could force the federal government to confront its long failures to safely house transgender detainees in accordance with U.S. law.