Donald Trump’s executive order on gender brings mixed reactions on LI
Micah Schneider spent much of Monday in tears, overcome by a foreboding awareness that a lifetime of discovery was being challenged with the stroke of a pen.
Hours after taking the oath of office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order rolling back protections for transgender people like Schneider, declaring the measure was necessary to defend “women from gender ideology extremism.”
The order stipulates the federal government will recognize only two sexes — male and female — that are not interchangeable and instructing agencies to use the term “sex” and not “gender” on all federal documents, including government-issued IDs.
“Across the country, ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex have increasingly used legal and other socially coercive means to permit men to self-identify as women and gain access to intimate single-sex spaces and activities designed for women,” the order states.
Schneider, 30, of Huntington, who identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, said Tuesday the order has real world implications.
Next week, Schneider, who works as director of programs at the LGBT Network in Hauppauge, has an appointment to get a passport. Until now, Schneider would have been able to get an X on the document reflecting their gender. Now, the document must reflect the gender Schneider had at birth but for which they no longer identify: female.
“I’m concerned about not being able to have access to a passport or federal documents that accurately reflect who I am,” Schneider said. “It took me a very long time and a very pretty penny to get my name changed legally; to get my gender markers accurate; to find health care providers that would respect me and affirm me. And I’m very concerned that all of those protections are going to be rolled all the way back.”
The order also stipulates biological males no longer can be held in women’s prisons, detention centers or rape shelters, and federal funds cannot be used to promote “gender ideology” or to fund gender transition services.
Federal workplaces, the order states, also can’t require employers to refer to transgender people by their chosen pronouns and federal employment records must reflect an individual’s sex at birth.
A separate order Trump signed revoked Biden administration protections for the estimated 9,000 to 14,000 transgender military personnel. Former President Joe Biden’s 2021 executive order said “all transgender individuals who wish to serve in the United States military and can meet the appropriate standards shall be able to do so openly and free from discrimination.”
Trump said during his inaugural address he would “end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life,” adding: “We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit based. As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.”
Tiffany Graham, an associate law professor and the associate dean of diversity and inclusion at Touro Law Center, said Tuesday the order likely will be challenged, potentially on privacy grounds.
“Transgender people have the right to protect private medical information, as do we all,” Graham said. “And if one construes your sex at birth as private medical information, would they be required to disclose that when they are seeking employment?”
David Kilmnick, president of the LGBT Network, said Tuesday he’s concerned how the directive — and how Trump supporters could interpret the order — will affect the mental health of transgender children and adults, who statistics show face higher rates of suicide and bullying.
“The president of our country tried to erase them from existence. We’re going to make sure that one signature of a pen does not do that,” said Kilmnick, adding the LGBT Network likely would be involved in lawsuits challenging the order.
Others, however, viewed the executive order as a return to common sense by interpreting gender based solely on biological and scientific terms.
“President Trump’s order will bring sanity after four years of attacks on women’s sports, safety and privacy,” Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican, said in a statement Tuesday. “It is clear that being trans is a lifestyle, not a gender and in Nassau County all lifestyles are welcome.”
Last year, Blakeman introduced legislation, subsequently passed by the majority GOP County Legislature, prohibiting transgender athletes from taking part in women’s and girls’ sports on county properties. On Tuesday, a state Supreme Court judge in Nassau rejected a motion from the Long Island Roller Rebels, a women’s roller derby team, seeking to block the law from going into effect.
A survey of 504 registered voters Siena College conducted in May in conjunction with Newsday showed 53% of Long Islanders supported Blakeman’s measure to bar transgender athletes from girls’ sports at county venues.
While Trump’s executive order makes no mention of sports, some advocates for the transgender community fear the directive may just be the first salvo in a new campaign against them.
“People are just so afraid that somehow this is going to impact their medical care,” said Juli Grey-Owens, 71, of Huntington Station, who is transgender and serves as executive director of Gender Equality New York. “And that somehow this will impact their ability to go about their lives on a regular day-to-day basis.”
Micah Schneider spent much of Monday in tears, overcome by a foreboding awareness that a lifetime of discovery was being challenged with the stroke of a pen.
Hours after taking the oath of office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order rolling back protections for transgender people like Schneider, declaring the measure was necessary to defend “women from gender ideology extremism.”
The order stipulates the federal government will recognize only two sexes — male and female — that are not interchangeable and instructing agencies to use the term “sex” and not “gender” on all federal documents, including government-issued IDs.
“Across the country, ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex have increasingly used legal and other socially coercive means to permit men to self-identify as women and gain access to intimate single-sex spaces and activities designed for women,” the order states.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday saying the federal government will recognize only two sexes and federal agencies must use the term “sex” and not “gender” on all documents.
- Long Island transgender advocates said the order has stoked fear in their community, while a Long Island law professor said the measure likely will be challenged — potentially on privacy grounds.
- Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said Trump’s order “will bring sanity after four years of attacks on women’s sports, safety and privacy.”
Schneider, 30, of Huntington, who identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, said Tuesday the order has real world implications.
Next week, Schneider, who works as director of programs at the LGBT Network in Hauppauge, has an appointment to get a passport. Until now, Schneider would have been able to get an X on the document reflecting their gender. Now, the document must reflect the gender Schneider had at birth but for which they no longer identify: female.
“I’m concerned about not being able to have access to a passport or federal documents that accurately reflect who I am,” Schneider said. “It took me a very long time and a very pretty penny to get my name changed legally; to get my gender markers accurate; to find health care providers that would respect me and affirm me. And I’m very concerned that all of those protections are going to be rolled all the way back.”
The order also stipulates biological males no longer can be held in women’s prisons, detention centers or rape shelters, and federal funds cannot be used to promote “gender ideology” or to fund gender transition services.
Federal workplaces, the order states, also can’t require employers to refer to transgender people by their chosen pronouns and federal employment records must reflect an individual’s sex at birth.
A separate order Trump signed revoked Biden administration protections for the estimated 9,000 to 14,000 transgender military personnel. Former President Joe Biden’s 2021 executive order said “all transgender individuals who wish to serve in the United States military and can meet the appropriate standards shall be able to do so openly and free from discrimination.”
Trump said during his inaugural address he would “end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life,” adding: “We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit based. As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.”
Tiffany Graham, an associate law professor and the associate dean of diversity and inclusion at Touro Law Center, said Tuesday the order likely will be challenged, potentially on privacy grounds.
“Transgender people have the right to protect private medical information, as do we all,” Graham said. “And if one construes your sex at birth as private medical information, would they be required to disclose that when they are seeking employment?”
David Kilmnick, president of the LGBT Network, said Tuesday he’s concerned how the directive — and how Trump supporters could interpret the order — will affect the mental health of transgender children and adults, who statistics show face higher rates of suicide and bullying.
“The president of our country tried to erase them from existence. We’re going to make sure that one signature of a pen does not do that,” said Kilmnick, adding the LGBT Network likely would be involved in lawsuits challenging the order.
Others, however, viewed the executive order as a return to common sense by interpreting gender based solely on biological and scientific terms.
“President Trump’s order will bring sanity after four years of attacks on women’s sports, safety and privacy,” Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican, said in a statement Tuesday. “It is clear that being trans is a lifestyle, not a gender and in Nassau County all lifestyles are welcome.”
Last year, Blakeman introduced legislation, subsequently passed by the majority GOP County Legislature, prohibiting transgender athletes from taking part in women’s and girls’ sports on county properties. On Tuesday, a state Supreme Court judge in Nassau rejected a motion from the Long Island Roller Rebels, a women’s roller derby team, seeking to block the law from going into effect.
A survey of 504 registered voters Siena College conducted in May in conjunction with Newsday showed 53% of Long Islanders supported Blakeman’s measure to bar transgender athletes from girls’ sports at county venues.
While Trump’s executive order makes no mention of sports, some advocates for the transgender community fear the directive may just be the first salvo in a new campaign against them.
“People are just so afraid that somehow this is going to impact their medical care,” said Juli Grey-Owens, 71, of Huntington Station, who is transgender and serves as executive director of Gender Equality New York. “And that somehow this will impact their ability to go about their lives on a regular day-to-day basis.”
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