On Monday, President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders that have stirred controversy as they address gender identification and diversity initiatives within the federal government. The first order asserts that the government will only recognize "two sexes, male and female," reversing policies that allowed for more inclusive identification options on federal documents. According to NBC News, Trump's administration will “require that government-issued identification documents, including passports, visas, and Global Entry cards, accurately reflect the holder’s sex."

This move comes as a sharp pivot from the previous administration, which permitted U.S. citizens to select a gender-neutral "X" on their passports starting April 2022. Trump's executive order contends that "Across the country, ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex have increasingly used legal and other socially coercive means to permit men to self-identify as women and gain access to intimate single-sex spaces and activities designed for women, from women's domestic abuse shelters to women's workplace showers," per the statement obtained by CBS News Miami. Critics argue this framing oversimplifies and misrepresents the lived experiences of transgender and nonbinary individuals who seek to use spaces that correspond to their gender identity.

Furthermore, Trump's order will end what he called "radical and wasteful" DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) programs within 60 days, impacting federal agencies' environmental justice programs and equity-related grants. According to NBC News, Trump justified the timing of the signing on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, purporting to honor the vision of civil rights leaders by fostering a "colorblind and merit-based" society.

LGBTQ legal advocates and other civil rights organizations have expressed concern and are preparing to challenge these actions. Chase Strangio, the co-director of the American Civil Liberties Union's LGBT and HIV Project, is reported to have said that "the ACLU is closely studying the impact and implementation of the order," as this order could significantly affect the lives of transgender and nonbinary people. Despite such pushback, some changes, including those concerning health care and protections for transgender individuals in federal facilities, could take longer to implement, requiring an extensive rule-changing process, CBS News Miami reported.

Legal experts foresee a likely series of court battles in response to these executive orders. Jennifer C. Pizer, the chief legal officer at Lambda Legal, told NBC News, "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."