Featured Image Credit: Melina Mara-Pool/Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, News, Politics, LGBTQ,
Rhianna Benson
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, News, Politics, LGBTQ,
Amid the new legislations being signed off by Donald Trump following his inauguration last week is one which seems to be aimed specifically at the transgender community.
On Tuesday (28 January), the Republican leader, 78, announced a policy vowing to 'protect kids from chemical and surgical mutilation', which is understood to be a swipe against gender transitions treatments and procedures for individuals under 19.
Following his first presidential address last Monday (20 January), Trump put several new executive orders into place - a handful of which will directly affect minority communities in the States, including members of the LGBTQ+ community.
In his speech, he declared that 'only two genders' - male and female - would be recognised by the government going forward, as part of a policy which reads: "Agencies will cease pretending that men can be women and women can be men when enforcing laws that protect against sex discrimination."
Advert
It continues: "These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality."
The same order also vowed to terminate 'wasteful' government programmes which promote diversity and inclusivity, and defend 'women from gender ideology extremism'.
In the days that followed, Trump also revoked an employment order dating back to 1965, which previously promoted opportunities for and protect women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ people and other traditionally underrepresented groups within society.
Marco Rubio - Trump's newly-appointed Secretary of State - also removed the opportunity for transgender and non-binary individuals to define their gender as 'X' on passport application forms.
The new executive order - now listed on the White House's official website - reads: "It is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called 'transition' of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures."
The order clarifies that, by 'child' or 'children', the government is referring to American citizens aged 19 and under.
It adds that, when referring to 'pediatric' (or 'paediatric' in the UK), this relates to the 'medical aid of a child'.
Lastly, it emphasises that the phrase 'chemical and surgical mutilation' includes procedures and treatments such as puberty blockers, hormones like oestrogen or testosterone, and surgery - all of which are common in gender-affirming care.
The policy goes on to accuse several doctors across America of 'maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children'.
It alleges that this was done 'under the radical and false claim that adults can change a child's sex through a series of irreversible medical interventions'.
Trump's latest order goes on to describe these treatments and procedures as being part of a 'dangerous trend that will stain our Nation's history', and declares that the US government will no longer 'fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called "transition" of a child from one sex to another'.
According to a study conducted by the JAMA Network in 2022, transgender teenagers having access to hormone replacement therapy medications resulted in a considerably lower rate of depression, as well as a lower risk of suicide for school students.
The Stanford University of Medicine also found in another study that same year that transgender people being permitted to access hormone replacement therapy as teenagers - as opposed to later, as adults - resulted in a more positive mental health outcome.
Unfortunately for thousands of transgender Americans, however, Trump's new order directly prohibits federally run insurance programs - such as Tricare and Medicaid - from covering gender-affirming care, and adds that the Department of Justice would pursue litigation for anyone opposing this.