The US will now recognize only two genders, male and female, as ordered by the new president, Donald Trump, who immediately ended a series of policies aimed at promoting racial equality and protecting the rights of the LGBTQ+ community.
In an executive order he signed immediately after returning to the White House, he requires the government to use the term “sex” instead of “gender,” while making it mandatory for government-issued identity documents, such as passports and visas, to be based on what he describes as “an immutable biological categorization of a person as either male or female.”
Trump moved quickly to fulfill his controversial campaign promises to roll back policies put in place by the Biden administration, which prioritized implementing diversity measures.
Trump repealed 78 executive orders signed by Joe Biden, including at least 12 measures that supported racial equality and combating discrimination against gay and transgender people.
At the same time, the new US president revoked two executive orders signed by his predecessor on the first day of his term four years ago, one to promote racial equality for underserved communities and another to combat discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation.
Trump also rolled back executive orders aimed at helping blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Asian and Pacific Islander Americans. “This week, I will also end government policies that seek to socially integrate race and gender into every aspect of public and private life,” he said in his speech.
“We will forge a society that is color-blind and based on merit. … As of today, the official policy of the United States government is that there are only two genders, male and female,” Trump said.
His moves to repeal many diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) policies and drastically limit transgender rights coincided with this year's Martin Luther King Day holiday, which honors the civil rights leader.
Strong reactions from human rights groups
Civil and human rights advocates and groups have vowed to protect minorities and challenge Trump's agenda: "We refuse to back down or be intimidated. We are not going anywhere and we will oppose these harmful provisions with everything we have," Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ+ rights group in the US, said in a statement.
Human rights advocates said any rollbacks Trump implements would deal a blow to efforts to ensure fair policies and undermine progress made in addressing systemic biases that have denied equal opportunities to marginalized groups for decades.
"We will continue our relentless efforts to protect immigrant rights, combat voter suppression, and confront hatred and discrimination in all their forms," the Asian Americans Advancing Justice organization said in a statement.
Under the executive orders, federal funds will not be used to promote “gender ideology,” a term often used by conservative groups to refer to any ideology that promotes non-traditional views of sex and gender.
Transgender rights have become a controversial political issue in recent years. During the November election campaign, many Republicans campaigned to overturn transgender laws, with a particular focus on transgender women participating in sports.
During a campaign rally on Sunday, Donald Trump said he would take action to "keep all men out of women's sports."
Source: skai.gr
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