Trump order recognizes only two sexes. Advocates call it 'cruel,' 'lawless.'

[Jessica_Rose]

Trump order recognizes only two sexes. Advocates call it 'cruel,' 'lawless.'

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/trump-order-recognizes-only-two-sexes-advocates-call-it-cruel-lawless/ar-AA1xZeZT?ocid=windirect&cvid=70f0aec18e9b422d90cc6c767ad74f94&ei=10

Story by Deborah Barfield Berry (28 Jan 2025)

WASHINGTON ‒ More than 175 organizations that advocate for women's and transgender rights released a letter Tuesday blasting President Donald Trump's requirement that federal agencies recognize only two sexes, male and female

The administration says the order defends women, but advocates said in the letter it could put people in harm's way by spreading disinformation and lead to harassment of those in the transgender and other communities.

"We know that the true intent of this order is to demonize, stigmatize, and discriminate against transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people and to enforce gender roles and gender stereotypes,'' they wrote in the letter. "It is appalling you wage these attacks in the name of "defending women," and particularly because of your repeated attacks on women's rights."

From a biological perspective, someone's gender identity can differ from their genetic sex or the sex organs they have, said Elvisha Dhamala, an expert in the neurobiology of human behavior at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in New York.

Society already makes life very difficult for people whose gender identities don't conform to male-female norms, so "no one is actively choosing to go out and make their life more difficult," Dhamala said.