USATrump administration wants to decree: only two genders
SDA
20.1.2025 - 17:16
ARCHIVE - Donald Trump Photo: Alex Brandon/AP/dpa
Keystone
The new US President Donald Trump wants to enforce far-reaching restrictions with regard to transgender rights. From now on, the policy of the United States will be based on the assumption that there are only two genders, i.e. male and female, explained a future government official.
Keystone-SDA
20.01.2025, 17:16
SDA
The official justified the planned regulation with the "biological needs of women, particularly with regard to privacy". Female is defined as "a person who, from conception, belongs to the sex that produces the egg".
US presidents can use executive orders to implement political priorities without the approval of Congress. However, they can also be challenged in court more easily than laws. Trump will be sworn in for his second term of office on Monday.
Trump team argues with the welfare of women
The previous "softening of terms and guidelines around gender" had not only harmed women, but also undermined the "credibility of the American system", the official continued. She spoke of "gender ideology extremism".
Official documents such as passports and visas should therefore again show the "correct biological sex" in future. Special attention should also be paid to facilities such as "prisons, migrant centers and women's shelters (...) to preserve the dignity of women".
Trump had already announced during the election campaign that he would take political measures against the rights of transgender people in the USA. He spoke of "transgender insanity", "sexual mutilation" of minors and made several derogatory comments about those affected. In particular, the Republican made the participation of trans women in sporting events a campaign issue.
Part of a broader social debate
Trans people or transgender people are people who do not feel they belong to the gender they were assigned at birth. Trump's comments are part of a broader social debate in the USA, in which conservative circles are increasingly calling for measures to be taken against the rights of LGBTQ people. Tech billionaire Elon Musk, one of Trump's closest confidants, has also expressed criticism of gender reassignment treatments for young people. His daughter Vivian Jenna Wilson, who has lived openly as a trans woman since 2020, has publicly criticized him for his stance.