US President Donald Trump has used his second inauguration speech to confirm a new US government policy on gender.
Trump was sworn in for a second term as US President in Washington DC this morning and used his speech to outline his priorities for his administration over the next four years, declaring it would be a new “golden age” for the country.
“A tide of change is sweeping the country, sunlight is pouring over the entire world, and America has the chance to seize this opportunity like never before.” he said, before outlining his key priorities including a clamp down on descriptions of gender in society.
President Trump said he would use his first day in office to sign a number of executive orders which he described as a “revolution in common sense”.
One of his top priorities is a directive that everyone be referred to as only be male or female, removing recognition of people who are non-binary or intersex.
“This week, I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life. We will forge a society that is colourblind and merit based.
“As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female.”
He also announced the removal of all government censorship.
“I also will sign an executive order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America.” President Trump said.
Some reports have suggested that the incoming President will sign as many as 200 executive orders within his first few hours of arriving at the White House.
Senior officials within the incoming administration have been briefing media outlets on the proposed content of the order reportedly saying federal funding may be withheld from any organisation that recongises people who are transgender.
Speaking to the US based ABC News, one official said that the guidance issued by former President Joe Biden on Trans Day of Visibility in 2023 that called on “all federal employees have their respective gender identities accurately reflected and identified in the workplace” would be removed.
It has also been suggested that the directive from the President will insist that all prisoners are moved to a facility that reflects their birth gender, the option of an ‘X’ marker on passports will be removed,
Leading LGBTIQA+ rights organisation The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) said while they have not seen the specifics of the executive order yet, they are committed to working to help combat these actions in the courts and in Congress to “ensure that LGBTQ+ people are protected.”
Kelly Robinson, President of the HRC said all Americans deserved to be treated with respect and dignity.
“No one should be subjected to ongoing discrimination, harassment and humiliation where they work, go to school, or access health care. But today’s expected executive actions targeting the LGBTQ+ community serve no other purpose than to hurt our families and our communities.” she said.
“Any attack on our rights threatens the rights of any person who doesn’t fit into the narrow view of how they should look and act,” Robinson said. “The incoming administration is trying to divide our communities in the hope that we forget what makes us strong. But we refuse to back down or be intimidated.”
independent online news outlet The Free Press published a report on Monday outlining that senior officials in the Trump Administration had outlined the details of what the executive order would contain.
They say the order will state “Agencies will cease pretending that men can be women and women can be men when enforcing laws that protect against sex discrimination.” and will follow a definition of “woman” that means “adult human female”.
It will also require all federal forms to be limited to the gender options of “male” and “female”, and all federal departments and agencies, and places that receive federal funding, will no longer be able to insist that people use the pronouns that people ask for.
The executive order however does not address any medical issues such as access to gender affirming care to minors, something that President Trump declared he would ban upon taking office. Officials reportedly said that the President is still committed to making this ruling too and is expected to address it in the near future.
President Trump also used his inaugural speech to declare that the Gulf of Mexico will be renamed the Gulf of America, and that Denali, the highest mountain in North America, will revert from its indigenous name to being known as Mount McKinley.
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