Trump’s Gender Orders Have a Lot of Horrifying Effects. This One Might Top the List.

Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order against “gender ideology extremism,” declaring that the federal government would only recognize two sexes—male and female—and that “these sexes are not changeable.” Days later, new Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered the freezing of changes to gender identity on passports, as well the suspension of any application of someone seeking an X gender marker, a nonbinary option that was first offered to Americans in 2022. “Whether it’s actually correct that they are able to do this is a legal issue that we think we will win on, but for the moment, he is accomplishing the goal of causing fear and confusion.” A passport is not simply a travel document for some non-cisgender people, Charles said, but can feel like an important symbolic affirmation or definitive statement that they are who they say they are. “It’s not that my gender necessarily will be important in terms of how I travel,” Daniel said, “but just being myself would allow me to live more freely and to really travel and enjoy myself as a satisfied person on the inside as well as the outside.” As the legal fight plays out, it will be closely followed by the LGBTQ+ community and allies like Andrea, mother to a 14-year-old freshman in a New Jersey high school. “I don’t think people really get what that does to someone.” While she expects to still be able to update her child’s name and photo, she’s losing hope that his passport will reflect his gender.