Trump admin lays out framework for order targeting transgender protections
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The U.S. Office of Personnel Management issued guidance Wednesday instructing federal agencies on how to carry out President Trump's executive order targeting transgender protections.
Why it matters: It's the latest in a series of moves aimed at stripping away civil rights and protections from transgender Americans in policies that will also greatly impact nonbinary people.
Details: The memo instructs heads of government departments and agencies to do the following, no later than 5pm Friday:
- Notify employees whose job descriptions include initiatives relating to gender ideology that they're being put on administrative leave;
- Ensure intimate spaces designed for women are designated by biological sex rather than gender identity;
- Turn off emails settings that ask users for gender pronouns;
- Disband employee resource groups that "inculcate or promote gender ideology;"
- And ensure all forms say "sex" instead of "gender."
Between the lines: The guidance on designating intimate spaces by biological sex could lay the foundation for banning transgender people from using restrooms in federal buildings that align with their gender identity.
- Office of Personnel Management did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment on the subject Wednesday evening.
Catch up quick: Trump took the first step toward rolling back protections for transgender people on his first day of his term, signing an executive order that the federal government would only recognize two sexes — male and female.
- As such, only those two sexes will be recognized for official documents such as passports and visas.
- "'Sex' is not a synonym for and does not include the concept of 'gender identity,'" the order stated.
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