• Press Release

Executive Orders attacking transgender people cause harm, undermine human rights 

January 28, 2025

(SOPA via Getty)

Following President Donald Trump’s signing of an Executive Order that seeks to restrict transgender service members and eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives from the military, Karla Gonzales Garcia, Amnesty International USA’s director of Gender, Sexuality, and Identity program, said:  

“This directive continues President Trump’s cruel pattern of creating policy based on bigotry and hate, particularly toward transgender people.  

“In its attacks on transgender people, whether in military service or through trying to redefine sex and gender in an attempt to erase transgender people, the Trump administration has made hate and discrimination its agenda. Not only will today’s directive violate the human rights of thousands of Americans, it also sends a dangerous message to the rest of the world. The right to equality and non-discrimination are at the core of human rights, enshrined in multiple treaties and instruments to which the United States is a party, and in many cases, which the United States helped draft.   

“These Executive Orders and other actions by the Trump administration that attack transgender people directly contravene human rights protections for all people and are a huge step backwards for equality.”  

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