Trump’s Executive Action Delivers Direct Attack on Trans, Nonbinary and Intersex People

Since 2010, transgender people in the United States have been able to change their gender markers on their passports. In 2021, the US State Department aligned this policy with international best practices by removing requirements for physician certification to do so, and in 2022 it began offering the option of an “X” gender marker on passports for nonbinary people.  In reversing these policies, the Trump Administration undermines trans, nonbinary, and intersex people’s ability to have their gender identity recognized and respected, directly conflicting with the principles of self-determination and autonomy. Requiring people to carry identity documents that do not reflect their gender expression also exposes them to an increased risk of violence and restricts their freedom of movement, a right protected under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The policy could pose an immediate risk to members of the armed services and other US government personnel who are currently deployed or working abroad on passports that reflect their gender identity.

Trump made attacks on trans people a cornerstone of his campaign, with over 200 million dollars spent on anti-trans ads. So it comes as no surprise that one of the first executive orders targets trans people and denies their very existence. Trump’s other Day One actions – including the scrubbing of LGBTIQ-inclusive language from government websites and the repeal of multiple executive orders on LGBTIQ people’s rights in the US and abroad issued by former president Joe Biden - threaten to reverse more than a decade of progress in which the US and other international development partners have contributed financially, diplomatically, and strategically to the advancement of global LGBTIQ equality. They are likely to hinder critical advancements made with US support, such as efforts in other countries to end the criminalization of same-sex relations and to pass non-discrimination policies rooted in fairness and fundamental values. This agenda of discrimination is likely to contribute to increased legal and economic marginalization and violence against vulnerable communities.

Outright International calls on U.S. politicians who continue to support equality and inclusion, other governments, funders, corporations, and human rights defenders worldwide to resist these discriminatory policies, collaborate on measures to protect trans, nonbinary, and intersex people, and support multilateral systems like the United Nations to uphold global human rights standards. Solidarity and collective action will be crucial to defending the hard-won gains of the global LGBTIQ movement.