Trump's decree on gender definition: Only man or woman - what does this mean for trans people?

Life for trans and non-binary people in the USA has changed dramatically under the new President Donald Trump. He has decreed that in future there will only be two genders. People with a passport from other countries in which either an "x" is recorded as the gender or the gender entry is not identical to the gender at birth could also have problems entering the USA in the future, warns the Foreign Office. We have taken a close look at the decree and explain what Trump is aiming for and what exactly is changing.

In the future, the USA will only recognize two genders: male and female. Gender dysphoric people, i.e. those who do not identify with their birth gender and suffer as a result, no longer have a choice.

Trump's decree states that in future a person will only be considered a man if he was born a man, and will only be a woman if he was born a woman. Trans people, i.e. people who were born a woman and became a man through hormones and gender reassignment surgery, or who were born a man and officially became a woman through such procedures, will lose their status and extensive rights. From now on they will belong to the gender they were born with, even if they no longer have primary sexual organs.

The decree defines female as “a person who, from the moment of conception, belongs to the sex that produces the egg cell.” Male is a person who has sperm cells.

Other genders such as "diverse" or "non-binary" are no longer recognized. "'Gender' is not a synonym for the concept of 'gender identity' and does not include it," the decree states.

Gender ideology replaces the biological category of sex and "allows the false claim that men can identify as women and thus become women and vice versa, and requires all social institutions to accept this false claim as true." Gender identity also reflects "a completely internal and subjective self-understanding that is detached from biological reality and gender and exists on an infinite continuum that offers no meaningful basis for identification and cannot be recognized as a substitute for gender."

Donald Trump is serious: With a decree, he is ensuring that US authorities will only recognize two genders in the future - male and female. This has also sparked criticism in Germany. The Queer Diversity Association is appalled.

The terms woman/girl/female and the terms man/boy/male must be given the meaning stated above by all authorities. This means that an authority may no longer refer to trans women as women (but rather as men) and trans men as men (but rather as women). Passports, visas and other personal documents and papers must also be changed accordingly within a certain period of time. Former President Joe Biden only made it possible for people to indicate a gender-neutral "X" as their gender in 2022.

Trans people will therefore be assigned their old, discarded gender again. In addition, the term "sex" must be used instead of "gender" in the future, and people must always state the gender they were born with when asked questions, not their gender identity.

In future, trans women will be excluded from all areas to which only biological women have access, such as women's prisons, women's shelters or women's areas in the workplace. Trans men, on the other hand, will be able to use these facilities again because they are considered women under the new decree.

"Trump openly wants to push trans* people out of public life and restrict their access to health care," said Erik Jödicke from the federal board of the LSVD⁺ Association Queer Diversity to the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND).

It is not yet known how the decree will affect transgender people who want to enter the USA. Since there are only two genders in the USA, people with an "X" in their passport or a gender entry that does not correspond to that at birth could have problems. According to the Foreign Office, they should no longer try to enter the country with an ETA and their passport, but should inquire in advance at a US embassy or consulate.

The Federal Foreign Office revised the travel and security advice for the USA on Tuesday. It now states: "Due to an executive order dated January 20, 2025, people entering the USA will in future have to indicate either 'male' or 'female' in ESTA or visa applications; the relevant gender entry is the applicant's gender at the time of birth. Travelers who have the gender entry 'X' or whose current gender entry differs from their gender entry at birth should contact the responsible U.S. diplomatic mission in Germany before entering the country to find out the applicable entry requirements."

This type of legislation is a special case in the USA. The president has the option of issuing so-called executive orders. This does not require the approval of Congress. It is possible that the executive order could be challenged, especially since there is already a case from 2020 in which the Supreme Court ruled that access to gender-specific spaces should be granted based on gender identity. This also gave trans women access to women's areas.

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However, the consequences are already being felt: Since the end of January, all employees in federal agencies who work in diversity programs designed to promote and protect women and minorities such as transgender people have been sent on compulsory leave.

The title of the decree suggests the motivation: “Defend women from the extremism of gender ideology and restore biological truth in government.” Donald Trump claims that so-called biological women suffer from the presence of trans women in personal spaces.

Trump concludes that protected areas for women would become less safe because of trans women. However, it remains unclear to what extent so-called biological women could feel disturbed by trans men with male sexual organs, who will once again be considered women in the future.

It is repeatedly claimed, not only in the USA but also here in Germany, that laws protecting trans women would help violent men who could gain access to shelters for women through a new gender identity. Figures from countries where such self-determination laws are in force do not support this. Representatives of women's shelters in Germany also intervened in the debate: there is not a single known case in which trans women have posed a threat.

An article in the “ Welt ” newspaper states that there have been five attacks by trans women on biological women in German women’s prisons. However, there are no reliable figures on the number of trans women in prison, nor have the attacks been compared to attacks by biological women.

However, trans women are always exposed to dangers, on the one hand due to patriarchal structures, and on the other hand, the ongoing discussions that men only pretend to be trans women in order to commit crimes against biological women are leading to a significant increase in crime against trans people. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the number of attacks in 2023 rose by 105 percent compared to 2022. The reason for this: trans women are increasingly being portrayed as a threat.

Just as the USA is divided politically and socially, Americans' views on the protection of trans people are just as divided. Even at the inauguration, numerous people protested against Trump's decree and for the rights of trans people.

Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde caused a particular stir when she addressed the president directly during a church service attended by Trump. She had a request: "In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy on the people in our country who are now afraid. There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families. Some fear for their lives." Trump was outraged and demanded an apology from Budde and the church.

The Self-Determination Act has enabled transgender, intersex and non-binary people in Germany to easily have their first name and gender entry in the personal data register changed since November 2024. Neither a medical certificate nor a court order nor an expert assessment is required, just a declaration to the registry office.

However, if conservative and right-wing forces have their way, the rights of transsexuals should be restricted again. The CDU and CSU as well as the AfD want to abolish the self-determination law again. In its election manifesto, the Union assumes that young people in particular would spontaneously and carelessly change their gender.

The AfD judges similarly: In a motion by the Bundestag faction, it was stated that "transidentity is increasingly being chosen as a self-diagnosis by people in life crises". Many patients are of the "erroneous opinion" that body-altering measures would be a "miracle cure" for their life problems. The Self-Determination Act contains no provisions on medical, i.e. hormonal or surgical, gender reassignment.

All three parties mentioned are committed to ensuring that gender dysphoric people have to appear before a committee that judges gender reassignment. Trans youth should no longer have access to gender reassignment measures. "This restricts the rights of children and young people under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and lacks any professional basis," says the website of the German Society for Trans* and Inter* Gender (dgti).