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Trump to issue orders on DEI and gender recognition

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Actions face backlash from civil rights groups

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Corporations show mixed responses to DEI rollback

(Recasts with Trump now president, adds quote from inaugural

address paragraphs 3-4, reaction from rights advocates

paragraphs 8 and 10, policy details paragraphs 12-16,

constitutional law professor paragraphs 22)

By Bianca Flowers and Gram Slattery

WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump

will immediately issue executive orders that slash diversity,

equity and inclusion programs and proclaim the U.S. government

will only recognize two sexes - male and female - that cannot be

changed, an incoming White House official said on Monday.

The official, speaking just hours before Trump was sworn in

as the 47th president, added that more actions on DEI programs

were expected "very soon."

"This week, I will also end the government policy of

trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of

public and private life," Trump said in his inaugural address.

"We will forge a society that is color blind and

merit-based. ... As of today, it will henceforth be the official

policy of the United States government that there are only two

genders, male and female," Trump said.

The Trump administration plans to review and potentially end

what the official described as "discriminatory programs,"

including environmental justice grants and diversity training

initiatives. Full details weren't immediately revealed about the

planned steps to rescind the orders or when they would be

announced.

The impending DEI rollback and Trump's inauguration coincide

with this year's Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday

commemorating the civil rights leader.

Civil and human rights advocates and groups immediately

vowed to protect minorities and challenge Trump's agenda.

"We refuse to back down or be intimidated. We are not

going anywhere, and we will fight back against these harmful

provisions with everything we've got," Kelley Robinson,

president of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ+

rights advocacy group in the U.S., said in a statement.

Rights advocates have said any DEI and transgender

rights rollbacks implemented by Trump would be a blow to

hard-fought efforts to secure equitable policies and undermine

progress made to address systemic prejudices that have deprived

equal opportunities for marginalized groups for decades.

"We will continue our relentless efforts to protect

immigrant rights, combat voter suppression, and confront hate

and discrimination in all its forms," Asian Americans Advancing

Justice said in a statement.

Many corporations have distanced themselves from DEI

measures, with some rolling back DEI initiatives and programs in

recent weeks. Meanwhile, companies such as Costco and

Apple ( AAPL ) have remained resolute in maintaining their

commitment to DEI.

As part of the executive orders, federal funds will not be

used to promote "gender ideology," the official said, a loose

term often used by conservative groups to reference any ideology

that promotes non-traditional views on sex and gender. Rights

and advocacy groups view the term as an anti-LGBTQ trope and

dehumanizing.

The Trump administration would only recognize two sexes,

male and female, that were unchangeable, and would instruct

federal employers to use the term sex and not gender, which can

refer to gender norms and identity, the incoming White House

official said in a background briefing.

U.S. funding will also not be used on gender transition

medical procedures, the official said without providing detail.

Federal policy on transgender healthcare is largely

affected by Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, also known

as Obamacare, that bans discrimination in healthcare on the

basis of sex.

In his first term, Trump issued regulations to weaken

that section, which was strengthened again under President Joe

Biden.

The Trump administration also planned to limit the scope

of a major victory for transgender rights under the 2020 U.S.

Supreme Court ruling of Bostock v Clayton County, in which the

high court found that civil rights protections against

discrimination "on the basis of sex" applied to sexuality and

gender identity.

The attorney general would provide explicit guidance on

how to apply Bostock, the official said.

Transgender rights have become a contentious political topic

in recent years. During November's election season, many

Republicans campaigned on reversing transgender laws with a

particular focus on transgender women participating in sports.

During a pre-inauguration rally on Sunday, Donald Trump said

that he will take action to "keep all men out of women's

sports."

It was not immediately clear what the executive orders would

mean for the U.S. military. During his first term, Trump

announced that he would ban transgender troops from serving in

the military, and his administration did freeze recruitment of

transgender personnel. Biden overturned that decision when he

took office in 2021.

Brian Kalt, a constitutional law professor at Michigan

State University, said that while presidents do have executive

authority some actions that Trump has promised to enact, such as

ending birthright citizenship, will "face an uphill battle in

court."