President Donald Trump has made a series of heavy-hitting decisions since returning to office. Four recent directives in particular posit to fulfill significant aims. Strengthening the military’s efficacy, protecting children from mutilation, preserving the safety of American women and restoring truth to the federal government — these premises all seem incredibly compelling. However, the orders that seek to accomplish these lofty and misleading ambitions have faced significant pushback and were cited as “horribly dangerous” by a federal judge.
Upending “gender insanity” has been a major tenet of Trump’s presidency, as outlined in his Agenda 47 platform. Preserving the dignity and safety of Americans is an absolutely critical aim for ensuring the wellbeing of the United States. However, disparaging transgender people is a completely needless and entirely ineffective way of accomplishing this agenda.
If anything, the misdirected claims posited as protecting the health and safety of American society have been counterproductive. Anti-trans prejudice initiates fatal violence, inordinate victimization by felony crimes, employment barriers and attempts at blatantly unlawful discrimination, even from official legal agencies, against a small group of Americans.
In Executive Order 14183, Trump deemed the “adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex” as antithetical to an “honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle.” This claim effectively banned transgender individuals from enlisting and serving in the U.S. military, for the sake of “developing the requisite warrior ethos” and “the pursuit of military excellence.”
In 2014, a study by the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) found that transgender people are roughly twice as likely to serve in the armed forces than the general adult population. Trans individuals assigned female at birth are nearly three times as likely as the general female population to have served.
Four-star Adm. Rachel Levine, Air Force Staff Sgt. Logan Ireland and Army Capt. Jennifer Peace are just a few examples of the contributions that transgender people have made to the U.S. armed forces. This includes landmark advancements in healthcare and leadership positions in counterintelligence missions. How exactly these efforts, and the efforts of an estimated 15,000 transgender service members, misses the mark of “military excellence” is unclear.
In a witness statement presented during a House Armed Services Committee meeting on Feb. 27, 2019, Capt. Peace testified as a military intelligence officer with 15 years of service. She has served in various leadership roles, including as a company commander, and has been deployed to locations such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Throughout her career, she has faced no issues related to her transgender identity, stating, “there were never any issues that arose due to being transgender.” Capt. Peace emphasized that transgender service members should be held to the same standards as anyone else, with no special accommodations.
When it comes to defending the safety of American women, as outlined by Executive Order 14168, transgender people are not the issue. A study by researchers from the UCLA Williams Institute, which utilized public record data of criminal incident reports related to assault, sex crimes and voyeurism in public restrooms, locker rooms and dressing rooms, found that “the passage of such laws is not related to the number or frequency of criminal incidents in these spaces.”
In fact, researchers at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that transgender people are at a much higher likelihood for being the victims of sexual violence in bathrooms when their bathroom access is restricted by sex stratification.
As for the dignity of women’s sports, the impact of the Trump administration’s landmark legislation is truly inspiring. An executive order signed on Feb. 5 has effectively banned 10 transgender athletes from competing in the NCAA and prevented high school students from competing in high school soccer games. The sanctity of fairness in women’s sports is crucial to maintain, but the amount of solid scientific data about biological advantages and disadvantages of trans athletes is incredibly narrow — especially given the hasty and sweeping implications of Trump’s policies.
The reality is that anti-transgender legislation not only fails to address the real issues facing Americans, like marked public health crises and unemployment, but it also risks causing harm to an innocuous minority population through discrimination, exclusion and violence. It is crucial to remember that true strength lies in unity, inclusivity and respect for all individuals, regardless of gender identity.
Ensuring that every American has the right to live without fear of persecution or harm, and has the liberty to meaningfully contribute to society, is an imperative reflection of the values that make this nation strong — freedom and equality.
Casey Mendoza is an Opinion Intern for the winter 2025 quarter. He can be reached at caseym4@uci.edu.
Edited by Zahira Vasquez, Grace Tseng