Within hours of taking office for a second term, President Trump issued a flurry of executive orders and actions on topics ranging from immigration and climate change to revoking DEI mandates. While many of these actions are likely to face legal challenges — in fact, several major lawsuits have already been filed — both federal and private-sector employers should take note of an executive order limiting the definition of “sex” to either “male” or “female” and rejecting the concept of “gender identity” for sex-based employment protections.

While these declared changes will have a direct impact on those employed in federal agencies and those working as federal contractors, the order also signals that this new policy is intended to quickly apply to private employers as well.

‘Sex’ redefined

On January 20, 2025, Trump signed an executive order titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” declaring that the U.S. government will only recognize two sexes: male and female. The order states that “efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex fundamentally attack women by depriving them of their dignity, safety, and well-being.” If further states, “This unhealthy road is paved by an ongoing and purposeful attack against the ordinary and longstanding use and understanding of biological and scientific terms, replacing the immutable biological reality of sex with an internal, fluid, and subjective sense of self...

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