Trump to end diversity programs, define two genders: official

U.S. President Donald Trump will issue a series of executive orders targeting diversity programs and gender identity policies Monday, moving swiftly to deliver on divisive campaign promises to dismantle "woke" culture.

On the campaign trail Trump railed against diversity, equity and inclusion policies in the federal government and in the corporate world, saying they discriminated against white people -- men in particular.

He also demonized any recognition of gender diversity, attacking transgender people -- particularly transgender women in sports and gender-affirming care for children.

An incoming White House official told reporters ahead of the presidential inauguration Trump will order the US government to recognize only two biological sexes as well as to end federal diversity programs.

The policies will almost certainly face legal challenges.

In practical terms, official documents would going forward be forced to "reflect sex accurately," the official said, without stating whether that meant gender assigned at birth.

"No longer will the federal government be promoting gender ideology," the official said.

The government would also only recognize two genders -- male and female -- ending official policies that recognized a third gender, denoted by an "X" on US passports for example.

"What we're doing today is defining that it is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes: male and female," the official said.

The official did not specify any clear policies on gender transitions -- but did suggest that genders assigned at birth could not be changed.

"These are sexes that are not changeable, and they are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality," they said.

The government would also immediately move to curtail programs that sought to redress historical inequality but that Trump has insisted disadvantage white people, particularly men.

"The Department of Treasury -- this is a little while ago now -- included diversity training that said all white people, regardless of how woke they are, contribute to racism. So this type of funding, we're going to end at these (diversity) programs. We're going to end that," the official said.

They added that the incoming administration would move to "terminate all discriminatory programs" while also seeking out civil service roles linked to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion that had been renamed by the Biden administration in an effort to protect them from Trump's axe.

"This includes environmental justice programs, equity related grants, equity action plans, equity initiatives, these types of things," the Trump official said.

- Transgender fear -

Ahead of the election, Trump planned to "ask Congress to pass a bill establishing that the only genders recognized by the US government are male and female, and they are assigned at birth," his political program stated.

He had also promised to ban gender-affirming care for minors and to take legal action against any doctors and educators who carry out or enable the practice.

Many in the queer community were alarmed by the election of Trump following a campaign in which the Republican put attacks on trans people and their rights front and center.

The LGBT National Help Center has been receiving about 2,000 calls per day since the election results, instead of the usual 300, according to its director Aaron Almanza.

Anti-trans rhetoric was a mainstay of Trump's campaign rallies, drawing huge cheers from crowds fired up by the Republican's false claims that children were being forced to undergo gender reassignment, among other claims.

© Agence France-Presse