Policy and prejudice: The impact of Trump-era executive orders on transgender employees

Abstract The current administration has disproportionately targeted transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people, despite accounting for less than 1% of the population (Jones, 2024). Though there has been a flurry of executive orders issued restricting the rights of this population, Executive Order 14168 (i.e., Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government) and Executive Order 14151 (Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing) are likely to be particularly impactful for workplaces. This is because Executive Order 14168 challenges the existing federal protections of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 extended through Bostock v. Clayton County (2020), by declaring sex as binary and biological and denying the existence of transgender people. In addition, EO14151 eliminates federal diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and practices, which limits organizational practices and policies that might otherwise create inclusive and equitable environments for transgender employees. Therefore, this policy brief aims to discuss these executive orders, the existing protections they aim to alter, and the potential implications for transgender employees, organizations, and industrial-organizational professionals.