Trump Signs Order to End Federal Support for Gender Transitions for People Under 19
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Loading... - Nora Kingma
- 29 Jan 2025
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President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday aimed at cutting federal support for gender transitions for individuals under the age of 19. This action represents the latest effort by the Trump administration to roll back protections for transgender individuals across the United States.
In a statement accompanying the order, Trump declared, “It is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.”
The executive order directs federally run insurance programs, including TRICARE for military families and Medicaid, to exclude coverage for gender-affirming care. It also calls on the Department of Justice to actively pursue litigation and legislation against the practice. This move could potentially end Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care in states where it is currently available and target hospitals and universities that receive federal funding and provide such care.
Legal experts anticipate that the order will face challenges in court, as it aligns with a broader trend of legislative and executive actions aimed at restricting transgender rights. This initiative is part of Trump’s ongoing efforts to reverse policies established by the Biden administration that aimed to protect transgender individuals and their access to healthcare.
In a related directive issued on Monday, Trump instructed the Pentagon to conduct a review that may lead to barring transgender individuals from serving in the military. Additionally, shortly after taking office last week, he signed an order that seeks to define sex strictly as male or female, disregarding the identities of transgender, nonbinary, and intersex individuals. This has already resulted in the State Department halting the issuance of passports with an “X” gender marker, forcing transgender individuals to apply for travel documents that do not align with their gender identity.
Harper Seldin, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBTQ & HIV Project, criticized the order, stating, “It’s very clear that this order, in combination with the other orders that we’ve seen over the past week, are meant to not protect anyone in this country, but rather to single-mindedly drive out transgender people of all ages from all walks of civic life.” Seldin noted that the ACLU is currently reviewing the order to determine its immediate effects and the necessary agency actions that may follow.
Despite some progress in visibility and acceptance for transgender individuals, they have increasingly become targets for social conservatives. In recent years, at least 26 states have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, many of which are currently facing legal challenges. This includes a pending lawsuit regarding Tennessee’s ban that is set to be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Republican-controlled states have also taken steps to limit transgender participation in women’s and girls’ sports and to dictate bathroom access for transgender individuals, particularly in educational settings. As the national conversation around transgender rights continues to evolve, the implications of Trump’s latest executive order are likely to resonate across the country, sparking further debate and legal scrutiny.
