On January 20, 2025, and in the days following, the White House issued Executive Orders and other Presidential actions aimed at restricting the rights of transgender and non-binary people and youth under the guise of 'defending women' and 'restoring biological truth,' while also rolling back Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) initiatives and weakening protections for women’s and girls’ rights, including workplace equity, reproductive healthcare access, and protections against gender-based violence. These actions—part of a broader assault on gender inclusivity—attempt to revert our collective understanding of gender back to the sex binary of male and female, and threaten not only the civil liberties of women, girls, and transgender people at home and abroad, but also further weakens the United States’ global standing as a defender of human rights.

As an organization committed to human rights, gender justice and equality, Oxfam America strongly condemns these executive actions and urges policymakers, civil society organizations, and individuals to protest these regressive policies. These orders not only roll back hard-fought progress for LGBTQIA+ rights and the massive gains of the women’s rights and gender equality movements, but also position the U.S. as an outlier in the global movement toward equality and inclusion, which could lead to devastating global influence that results in further backsliding and backlash against women, girls and gender-diverse people. Behind every word in these actions, there are lives, families, and whole communities that are dehumanized, with their rights taken away by the stroke of a pen.

A Direct Threat to Human Rights

By enforcing a narrow, exclusionary definition of sex and openly denying the existence of gender, these executive orders strip transgender individuals of their basic rights, including protections in education, healthcare, sports, and employment. This move is not about defending women—it is about policing gender and restricting freedoms. True gender justice means advancing the rights of all people, including trans and non-binary individuals, to live with dignity, autonomy, and equality, and free from violence and the threat of criminalization.

The impacts will be far-reaching:

• Increased Discrimination and Violence: Trans and non-binary people already face high rates of discrimination, violence, and economic marginalization. This is especially true for Black trans women. These orders will embolden discrimination, making it harder for trans individuals to access necessary healthcare, public accommodations, and legal protections. They are an intimidation tactic used as a deterrent for basic human rights and justice.
• Harm to Women’s Rights: This effort to position trans rights as a threat to women’s rights is a false narrative. Women’s rights and trans rights are not in opposition—gender justice requires ensuring that all people, regardless of identity, are free from discrimination, violence and criminalization, and are able to thrive.
• Undermining Democratic Values: These Executive Orders signal to the world that the U.S. government is willing to trample on fundamental freedoms without regard for the legality of these actions. At a time when democracy is under attack globally, these actions send a dangerous message that rights are conditional and can be revoked for political gain.

The Global Impact: The U.S. Falls Behind

Internationally, many governments are moving toward greater gender inclusivity, recognizing trans rights as fundamental human rights. The Biden administration had taken steps to align the U.S. with this global progress, strengthening protections for LGBTQIA+ individuals domestically and in foreign policy. By reversing these advances, the current administration isolates the U.S. from its allies and weakens its moral authority on human rights issues.

Countries and international bodies, including the United Nations and the European Union, have made it clear that trans rights are human rights. These new executive orders place the U.S. in opposition to this growing global consensus, diminishing its credibility in diplomatic relations and international human rights advocacy.

This detrimental impact also extends to the broader eroding of women's and girls’ rights. Through executive orders targeting K-12 education and the elimination of DEIA initiatives, the administration has undermined critical progress toward gender equity. By invoking the Civil Rights Act to eliminate so-called "sex-based preferences," these actions threaten policies and programs designed to protect and advance the rights of women and girls. This approach directly contradicts the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and global institutional efforts to prioritize women’s economic empowerment and protections against gender-based violence.

How This Ties Into the Dismantling of USAID

The attack on trans rights in the U.S. is not happening in isolation—it is part of a broader effort to roll back global human rights commitments. The Trump administration’s dismantling of USAID, the U.S. Agency for International Development, is another devastating blow to marginalized communities worldwide.

For decades, USAID has played a crucial role in advancing gender equity, LGBTQIA+ rights, and inclusive development programs and humanitarian responses around the world. From supporting gender-based violence prevention initiatives to funding life-saving healthcare for LGBTQIA+ people, USAID has been instrumental in fostering social progress and encouraging efforts toward the localization of aid. The agency’s weakening—or outright dismantling—means:

• Defunding LGBTQIA+ Rights Programs: Many grassroots organizations in the Global South rely on USAID funding to support trans and non-binary people who face discrimination, violence, and inequality. Cutting this support will further exacerbate the marginalization these grassroots groups face.
• Rollback of Gender Equality Initiatives: USAID has funded programs that uplift women, girls, and LGBTQIA+ people through economic opportunities, food security and nutrition, education, and reproductive healthcare. Its dismantling would weaken global progress toward gender justice. Decades of programming and research show that it is not a zero-sum game: when women and girls thrive, we all have stronger food security, economic growth, and improved well-being.
• Loss of U.S. Credibility as a Global Leader in Human Rights: Without USAID’s leadership, the U.S. abandons its role in promoting human rights and instead emboldens oppressive regimes that seek to criminalize LGBTQIA+ people and roll back hard-fought rights for women and girls.
• Hobbling Life-Saving Humanitarian Responses: In the Emergency Humanitarian Waiver to Foreign Assistance Pause issued by the State Department, specific language was included to discount any “activities that involve abortions, family planning, conferences, administrative costs other than those covered by 1(a) above, gender or DEI ideology programs, transgender surgeries, or other non-life saving assistance”, effectively erasing the very real medical and human needs of women and LGBTQIA+ individuals, reducing the effectiveness of these responses.

The simultaneous targeting of women, girls, and trans rights domestically and globally alongside the dismantling of USAID demonstrates a coordinated effort to undermine gender justice at every level. This is not just an American issue—it is a global crisis that will disproportionately harm the world’s most marginalized people.

Oxfam America’s Commitment to Gender Justice

At Oxfam America, we recognize that gender justice is essential for ending poverty and inequality. We take an intersectional feminist approach, and recognize the intersectional dehumanization and oppression that BIPOC women and girls, trans and non-binary communities continue to face, especially now under this Trump Administration, and we will continue to stand in solidarity with these communities to fight against policies that seek to erase and marginalize them and their experiences.

We call on:

• Policymakers, including Congress, to reject and challenge these harmful executive orders through legislative and legal means.
• Businesses and Institutions to uphold inclusive policies that reduce gender-discrimination, protect transgender individuals, and improve workplace conditions for women and LGBTQIA+ individuals, regardless of federal mandates.
• The International Community to hold the U.S. accountable for violating fundamental human rights principles.
• Individuals to speak out, organize, and support women, girls, and trans-led organizations that are fighting for justice.

These executive orders represent a dangerous rollback of rights that will have lasting harm both within the U.S. and on the global stage. The fight for gender justice is far from over, and Oxfam America remains committed to advocating for policies that ensure dignity, equality, and human rights for all.

Now is the time to protest, to organize, and to push forward—not backward. The world is watching.