The US President’s first actions have waged a war on queer rights. But the community is fighting back.
When President Trump assumed office on 20 January, 2025, he began signing a stack of executive orders taking aim at LGBTQIA+ rights, DEI and migrants.
In order to learn more, we’ve compiled a running list of the executive orders targeting LGBTQIA+ rights, as well as a list of the lawsuits challenging these directives.
[Editor’s note: This is a developing story and this article will be updated as and when further developments arise]
What is an executive order?
Executive orders are a kind of written directive, signed by the president, that orders the government to take certain actions.
However, it’s worth noting that an executive order doesn’t override the Constitution or federal laws or statues – but it does set the tone and priorities in policy.
(Statutes, FYI, come from Congress and are then signed by the president – but Congress can override vetoes which come from the president.)
A summary of Trump’s anti-LGBTQIA+ executive orders
- 20 Jan: ‘Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government’, an executive order which attempts to end legal recognition of trans and non-binary people under federal law, with wide-reaching consequences with regards to single-sex spaces, X gender markers, employment and more. It also seeks to house all incarcerated trans women in male prisons and discontinue their access to gender-affirming care.
- 20 Jan: ‘Ending Radical and Wasteful DEI Programs and Preferencing’, an executive order which targets DEI “mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities” throughout federal government.
- 20 Jan: ‘Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid’, an executive order that ordered a 90-day freeze on foreign aid spending and handed further control of USAid to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. This has had a major impact on the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), severely disrupting the provision of HIV-related care globally. On 6 February, Rubio issued an “emergency humanitarian waiver” to allow HIV medication to be distributed abroad. However, a State Department document posted online by UNAIDS on 6 February and then updated on 10 February indicated that the provision of PrEP would still be restricted, stating: “Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) should be offered only to pregnant and breastfeeding women (PBFW; see section above) during this pause of U.S. Foreign Assistance.” It also noted that: “People other than PBFW who may be at high risk of HIV infection or were previously initiated on a PrEP option can not be offered PEPFAR-funded PrEP during this pause of U.S. Foreign Assistance or until further notice.”
- 27 Jan: ‘Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness’, an executive order which takes aim at trans people serving in the military. As of 14 February, the US Army stated that trans people would no longer be able to enlist and that it would no longer perform or facilitate “procedures associated with gender transition for service members”. Openly trans people were first able to legally serve in the US military from 25 January 2021.
- 28 Jan: ‘Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation’, an executive order which instructs agencies to block gender-affirming care for those under 18. You can read more about this here.
- 29 Jan: ‘Ending Radical Indoctrination In K-12 Schooling’, an executive order which directs the Departments of Education, Defense, and Health and Human Services to work with the Attorney General to make a plan to strip funding from schools which promote education “based on gender ideology and discriminatory equity ideology” and calls for the prosecution of teachers who respect trans children’s gender identities and efforts to socially transition.
- 5 Feb: ‘Keeping Men Out Of Women’s Sports’, an executive order which attempts to ban trans women and girls from sports at the school and collegiate level and encourages athletics associations to revise their rules so as to bar trans women from participating in female sporting categories. You can read more about this here.
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Lawsuits challenging Trump’s anti-LGBTQIA+ executive orders
- 26 Jan: An incarcerated trans woman, known pseudonymously as Maria Moe, challenged a Bureau of Prisons (BOP) policy which would see her moved to a male prison and her gender-affirming care discontinued, on the grounds that this would expose her to an “extremely high risk of harassment, abuse, violence, and sexual assault.” Her lawyers via GLAD Law, NCLR, and Lowenstein Sandler LLP filed a complaint in federal district court in Massachusetts. On the same day, the court granted a temporary restraining order which would allow her to remain in a women’s facility and retain access to medical care while the court considered further relief.
- 30 Jan: Three incarcerated trans women, known pseudonymously as Jane, Mary and Sara Doe, sued the Trump administration, arguing that the ‘Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government’ executive order’s directive to discontinue their gender-affirming care and re-house them in male prisons violated the US Constitution and federal law.
- 4 Feb: After their medical care was disrupted, two trans young adults, and five trans adolescents and their families, launched a federal legal challenge to Trump’s ‘Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation’ executive order.
- 6 Feb: Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Trump’s administration’s ban on military service by trans people. It was filed on behalf of six actively serving trans service members, a trans person seeking to enlist and Gender Justice League.
- 7 Feb: Working with the ACLU, seven trans and non-binary people filed a federal lawsuit challenging the State Department’s refusal to allow changes to gender markers on passports, arguing that this is in violation of their constitutional rights.
- 10 Feb: An incarcerated trans woman, known pseudonymously as Jane Jones, filed a federal lawsuit after being temporarily transferred to a male lockup and subjected to solitary confinement. While Jones was returned to the low security women’s camp where she had previously resided, she is seeking a permanent injunction from a judge to prevent being transferred to a male facility in future.
- 12 Feb: Parker Tirrell and Iris Turmelle, two trans teenagers attending school in New Hampshire, had previously sued state education officials over state law barring their participation from girls’ sports at their public high schools. On 12 Feb, their lawyers at GLAD Law and the ACLU of New Hampshire filed an amended complaint to expand the case nationally so as to challenge Trump’s ‘Keeping Men Out Of Women’s Sports’ executive order.
Stay tuned for further updates about the outcome of the above lawsuits.
