Did Trump's executive order just make everyone in the U.S. female?

U.S. President Donald Trump wasted no time in signing a slew of executive orders after his inauguration on Monday, delaying the TikTok ban, initiating a withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, and establishing the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency ("DOGE").

Entitled "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government," Trump's executive order concerning gender identity states that the U.S. government only recognises two sexes, male and female. It also provides explicit definitions of each which are to be applied to all interpretations of law.

"'Sex' shall refer to an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female," Trump's executive order declares. "'Female' means a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the large reproductive cell. 'Male' means a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the small reproductive cell."

Though Trump's goal to impose a "binary nature of sex" may seem clear, the specific wording, technicalities, and application of his executive order are far from it.

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