In a change that could affect health care for transgender and other patients and be fought in court, one of President Trump's new executive orders says the government now will recognize biological sex, rather than a person's expressed gender identity if it's different. He declared in his inaugural address Monday that it will be "the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female," the Wall Street Journal reports. The order directs the government to use "sex" instead of "gender," per NBC News, and "ensure that official government documents, including passports and visas, reflect sex accurately."
Trump planned to sign the order before the day is out. One legal advocate for LGBTQ+ people said she expects lawsuits from organizations like hers. "The president can't, with a wave of a pen, change the reality of who people are and the fact that we as a community of people exist," said Jennifer Pizer of Lambda Legal. Another legal expert said the Trump administration can go ahead with some changes. Prisons, migrant shelters, and rape shelters could start moving transgender people into spaces aligned with their birth sex, for instance. So trans women detained in women's prisons might soon be transferred to men's prisons.
Changes in other areas, such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development's protections for trans people facing evictions, could take longer because they require a multistage process. Lawsuits could result in courts issuing injunctions to block a change, per NBC. Or the courts could let the executive order take effect while it's being challenged. At the moment, Americans can select "X" as their gender marker on passports, and it doesn't have to agree with the gender marked on citizenship documents or a photo ID, per CNN. "We promote the freedom, dignity, and equality of all people—including LGBTQI+ individuals," the State Department's website says. (More Trump inauguration stories.)
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