The government will put an end to “transgender lunacy,” the President-elect has promised
US President-elect Donald Trump announced a sweeping agenda to address what he called “transgender lunacy” during a speech at the AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, Arizona.
Speaking to a crowd of young conservatives on Sunday, Trump pledged to implement multiple relevant policies on his first day in office.
“I will sign executive orders to end child sexual mutilation, remove transgender individuals from the military, and prevent them from entering our elementary, middle, and high schools,” Trump stated, signaling a return to policies dismantled during the Biden administration. Additionally, he promised to enforce a ban on transgender athletes in women’s sports.
”It will be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female,” he declared.
With Republicans preparing to take control of both chambers of Congress alongside the White House, the party is positioned to advance a conservative agenda on LGBTQ issues. Last week, Congress approved a defense budget that includes a provision barring federal funding for certain gender-affirming medical treatments for the children of US service members.
Trump’s planned executive order to ban transgender people from the US military would affect not only those enlisting in the future but also personnel already serving, the Times reported in November. This proposed legislation is seen as a more stringent version of the ban Trump enacted during his first term.
In 2018, Trump banned openly transgender people from joining the military but allowed those already serving to retain their positions. At the time, Trump claimed he had consulted military experts and concluded that trans individuals should not serve in any capacity. He emphasized that allowing transgender individuals into the military incurs “tremendous medical costs” due to the need for expensive hormone treatments and specialized care.
The ban was rescinded by outgoing President Joe Biden in 2021.
