Chicagoans are bracing for the impact of an anti-trans executive order signed by President Donald Trump stating the U.S. will only recognize two sexes and rolling back other protections for transgender people.
The executive order, signed by Trump hours after he took office Monday, mandates the government use the term “sex” instead of “gender” and takes aim at federally issued identity documents, trans people under incarceration and federally funded organizations serving the trans community.
Additionally, Trump repealed a number of executive orders signed by former President Joe Biden that combated discrimination against LGBTQ+ people. References to LGBTQ+- and HIV-related resources were also removed from a number of federal government websites.
LGBTQ+ groups in Chicago warned of the dangers these changes will pose, while promising to fight back against the executive orders and continue strengthening Illinois as a safe haven for queer people.
“This is nationally sanctioned violence on the lives of transgender people,” said Zahara Bassett, founder and CEO of Life is Work, a trans-led social services organization on the West Side. “It feels like someone has invaded our home and is trying to strip the humanity from our people.”
Mony Ruiz-Velasco, deputy director of Equality Illinois, said the LGBTQ+ rights organization has been in calls with other queer civil rights groups across the country, including immediately after the executive order was signed and since Trump was elected in November.
Ruiz-Velasco urged people concerned about the executive order to make sure they are relying on trusted sources of information and avoid “immediately going into a state of panic.”
Organizations like Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign have already vowed to mount legal challenges against these changes, according to press releases from both organizations.
Additionally, the federal government will not be able to immediately implement some parts of the executive order, Ruiz-Velasco said.
“There are things in this order that are going to take time to roll out or will be challenged in court,” Ruiz-Velsaco said. “The intent of causing fear and confusion in the community is clear, but the actual effect of this executive order is going to be slow to implement.”
Among the immediate changes people might see include the mandate that federally issued identity documents like passports and visas reflect a person’s sex as it was assigned at birth, Ruiz-Velasco said.
These changes do not affect state laws, like the ones in Illinois that allow for gender marker changes on birth certificates, driver’s licenses and ID cards, as well as nonbinary gender markers on driver’s licenses.
Illinois also allows for gender markers on federal documents to be different from their state documents, Ruiz-Velasco said.
“We have come really far here in Illinois, and state laws continue to protect folks in the same way that they did before these orders,” Ruiz-Velasco said.
But the changes to federal identity documents will still expose transgender people to potential discrimination and could put them in danger, said Channyn Lynne Parker, CEO of Brave Space Alliance, a Black- and trans-led community center on the South Side.
“There are so many ramifications that come with this,” Parker said. “For individuals who are traveling overseas with incongruent documents, they could find themselves tied up in customs for all we know. This could also lead to other forms of discrimination like job discrimination and housing discrimination.”
Another part of the executive order that could be implemented more immediately are its mandates affecting transgender people who are in federal detention, Ruiz-Velasco said.
The executive order commands that incarcerated people be detained in facilities that align with their sex assigned at birth, rather than their gender identity. It also states that federal funds will not go toward supporting trans people in detention with gender-affirming healthcare.
This, too, will expose transgender people to potential violence, said Parker, a former social worker at the Cook County Department of Corrections.
“Sometimes solitary confinement with members of the sex you do not align with can be very violent, even with what’s called protective custody,” Parker said. “So we’re opening up the door for individuals to be harmed in ways that the federal government already set up a standard for them not to be.”
Another part of the executive order is that federal funds will not be used to promote “gender ideology,” which is a term often used by conservatives to refer to non-traditional views on sex and gender.
This could have a dramatic impact on social service organizations that rely on grant money to support transgender people, Bassett said.
“A lot of this funding can be used for gender-based housing for people who are trans or gender-affirming medical care,” Bassett said. “What does it look like for people in this housing or care when that funding is stripped from organizations?”
Other changes that could affect LGBTQ+ people include the rollback on several Biden-era executive orders aimed at protecting the community.
Among them was an order Biden signed on his first day in office that combats discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation and another aimed at preventing LGBTQ+ discrimination in schools.
“By speaking this hate and pushing these messages, it causes tremendous harm, especially for young people,” Ruiz-Velasco said. “But we are using all the tools we have at our disposal to fight against what is coming at the federal level.”
But to continue this fight, transgender people need allies—both from within the larger LGBTQ+ community and from straight, cisgender people.
“We as trans people need co-conspirators,” Bassett said. “How is it that the same population of people that started the revolution for all LGBTQ+ people are the ones being attacked? I’m calling on all my gay and lesbian siblings to stand with us at this moment.”
People looking to get involved in defending trans people and other LGBTQ+ rights can start by staying engaged with their local communities, Ruiz-Velasco said.
“We need to stay connected and know that we are not alone,” Ruiz-Velasco said. “This is moving quickly and things are changing, so we need to stay connected so people have the most accurate information and can support the organizations around the city and state advocating for protection.”