Sweeping Executive Orders Change Definition of Sex and End Protection for Transgender Individuals

Since taking office, President Trump has issued three executive orders aimed at changing the definition of “sex” and ending protections for transgender individuals that were established by the Biden administration. In the succeeding weeks, agencies have begun implementing these orders.

Executive Order on Sex and Gender

On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order called the Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government. The Administration states that its purpose is to “defend women’s rights” by using “clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male.” The order defines the term “sex” as an individual’s “immutable biological classification” and states that it is “the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female,” which are “not changeable.”

The order requires the Attorney General to submit a report within 120 days that shall “issue guidance and assist agencies in protecting sex-based distinctions.” It concludes that the rationale underpinning the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020), which held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees against discrimination due to their gender identity or sexual orientation, does not extend to Title IX.

Additionally, the order directs all agencies with “enforcement responsibilities under the Civil Rights Act [to] prioritize investigations and litigation to enforce the rights and freedoms identified.” And it directs the Attorney General to “issue guidance” to assist in those investigations.

Finally, the order addresses grant funding. It states that “federal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology. Each agency shall assess grant conditions and grantee preferences and ensure grant funds do not promote gender ideology.” Based on this provision, federal agencies have paused or canceled some grants to recipients that conduct research on transgender-related issues.

Executive Orders on Gender Transition Healthcare for Children and Social Transitions

A week later, President Trump signed two more executive orders intended to limit access to gender-affirming care. The first order, titled Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation, states that 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.” The order directs federal agencies to stop all funding for medical procedures that help a person under 19 transition genders, and also instructs the secretary of Health and Human Services to “publish a review of the existing literature on best practices for promoting the health of children who assert gender dysphoria.” It directs the Attorney General to “prioritize investigations and take appropriate action” against any entity that may be “misleading the public” about gender-transition healthcare.

The second order, titled Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling, seeks to limit schools’ ability to support students’ “social transitions,” defined as “the process of adopting a ‘gender identity’ or ‘gender marker’ that differs from a person’s sex.” It directs the Department of Education to lead a multiagency process to prevent federal funds from being used for various purposes, including “to directly or indirectly support or subsidize the social transition of a minor student.” And it directs the Attorney General to assist local law enforcement to “enforce the law and file appropriate actions against K-12 teachers and school officials” who “unlawfully facilitat[e] the social transition of a minor student.”

Subsequent Agency Actions

Federal agencies are already taking action to effectuate the policy of the President’s executive orders. On January 28, the acting chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a statement that she was “rolling back the Biden administration’s gender identity agenda,” including by prioritizing enforcement actions that “defend the biological and binary reality of sex and related rights, including women’s rights to single-sex spaces at work.”

On January 31, the Department of Education issued a Dear Colleague Letter explaining that Education “will return to enforcing Title IX protections on the basis of biological sex in schools and on campuses,” as set out in the 2020 Title IX rule that the Trump administration issued. The Biden administration had sought to replace that rule with regulations that prohibited discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, but those changes were blocked in court. Since publishing the Dear Colleague Letter, Education has already launched an investigation into a school system for creating an all-gender bathroom in place of a pre-existing women’s bathroom.

As agencies gain Senate-confirmed leadership and as the deadlines in the President’s executive orders approach, affected individuals and entities should expect further developments related to transgender individuals. We will continue to monitor these issues.

This memorandum is a summary for general information and discussion only and may be considered an advertisement for certain purposes. It is not a full analysis of the matters presented, may not be relied upon as legal advice, and does not purport to represent the views of our clients or the Firm. Apalla U. Chopra, an O’Melveny partner licensed to practice law in California; Anton Metlitsky, an O’Melveny partner licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia and New York; Tristan Morales, an O’Melveny partner licensed to practice law in California and the District of Columbia; Jennifer B. Sokoler, an O’Melveny partner licensed to practice law in New York; Natasha W. Teleanu, an O’Melveny partner licensed to practice law in New York; Meaghan VerGow, an O’Melveny partner licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia and New York; Pamela A. Miller, an O’Melveny partner licensed to practice law in New York; Steven J. Olson, an O’Melveny partner licensed to practice law in California; David Cohen, an O’Melveny counsel licensed to practice law in New York; Emma Gomez, an O’Melveny law clerk; Joshua Revesz, an O’Melveny counsel licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia; and Marni Robinow, an O’Melveny counsel licensed to practice law in California, contributed to the content of this newsletter. The views expressed in this newsletter are the views of the authors except as otherwise noted.

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