On the campaign trail, President Donald Trump promised to roll back LGBTQ+ protections, and within his first few days in office, he’s already begun to fulfill some of those promises.
Trump issued two executive orders pertaining to these protections, one stating that the United States will only recognize two sexes — male and female — that are unchangeable and another ending federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
The executive order recognizing only two sexes ended the Biden administration’s effort to extend Title IX regulations to include gender identity and sexual orientation. Biden’s Title IX regulations went into effect at many colleges and universities across the country in August, though not at Pitt.
Lawsuits from several states and three conservative organizations led to a federal judge blocking the Education Department from enforcing these regulations in affected states and institutions attended by members of the conservative organizations. Because a student from Female Athletes United — one of the groups participating in the lawsuit — attends the University, Pitt was included in the injunction, according to Vanessa Love, director of Civil Rights and Title IX in Pitt’s Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. The regulations were struck down in court in January.
Nicky Ripley, head of legal services at Hugh Lane Wellness Foundation, said that though the repeal of new Title IX regulations are harmful, “it’s not out of left field.”
“It’s historically the norm, and I’m not saying we shouldn’t hope for better, but that’s something we’re sort of used to dealing with, whereas something like the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, that reasoning is just flat out saying trans women can’t compete with cis women or girls,” Ripley said.
In the 2020 Bostock ruling, the Supreme Court determined that anti-LGBTQ discrimination violates federal law because discriminating against someone based on gender identity or sexuality in the workplace is discriminating against them based on sex under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Biden issued an executive order that directed federal agencies to use the Bostock definition of sex across all laws prohibiting discrimination based on sex, which Trump recently withdrew.
According to Ripley, there should be a strong case to argue that discrimination against people on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation is inherently sex-based as it applies to Title IX because of the win with Bostock.
“However, the holding in Dobbs about abortion really showed us that we can’t ignore the influence of politics and political appointments on traditional legal wisdom and reasoning,” Ripley said.
Ripley described the government’s definition of sex as “the realistic legal thing that could change,” though they described some of the administration’s other efforts as “taking bold swings.”
“[The Trump administration] doesn’t seem terribly concerned with what is considered conventionally legal in this space — like, they’re going to take big swings, and then if things get challenged, they get challenged,” Ripley said.
As far as defense of LGBTQ+ rights, Ripley said they are not “terribly optimistic” about allies in Congress holding ground and expressed concern with courts ruling based on politics more than precedent. While organizations like the ACLU will be safeguarding rights on a legal and national level, Ripley said they see a lot of advocacy spaces turning efforts towards investing in state and local protections.
While high-level legal battles are “a little bit abstract for most people” in their day-to-day lives, Ripley said one of the most important things people in the LGBTQ+ community can do right now is “be connected.”
“We really cannot afford to be isolated right now, and that’s really hard for queer and trans people in rural spaces. It’s hard for older queer and trans people, disabled folks,” Ripley said. “We need to make sure that we are putting our resources towards that solidarity … We need these social networks to keep us safe. Historically, that’s what’s kept us safe, not lawyers, not judges, but these social networks.”
Felicity Koch, a senior anthropology major and vice president of Rainbow Alliance, said she fears that states will push to overturn LGBTQ+ rights and marriage, a measure already introduced in Idaho. Koch is particularly concerned about how a rollback of protections could affect the LGBTQ+ community in a professional setting.
“A lot of the people I know, specifically in the Pitt community, are very resilient. They will just kind of keep on living their lives and keep on doing it however they want, without fear, and that brings me so much joy. But I’m worried in terms of a professional setting, with those protections gone, how will people in my community make money, get jobs, support themselves, or even feel safe at school,” Koch said. “I’m more worried how it will just kind of cause a trickle down effect of problems.”
Koch also expressed concerns for places without big queer communities, like Allentown, Pennsylvania, where they grew up. Two years ago, Koch said they were working at a library in Allentown running a LBGTQ+ group for local teens when board members threatened to pull funding for the club.
They said they were able to argue against funding being pulled by explaining what they were discussing in the group and pointing to legal protections as well as the American Library Association bill of rights.
“If there’s no protections, then all of this stuff can spiral out of hand and end up with a lot of queer people dealing with those effects,” Koch said.
Mak Blough, a senior psychology student and social media manager for Out in STEM, said they maintained “the optimistic hope” that Trump would only do a couple things throughout his presidency and did not expect for Trump to enact anti-LGBTQ legislation “right out the gate.”
“I feel very confident he’s going to do a lot more,” Blough said. “But even if he doesn’t, it’s just setting that precedent.”