This issue is too important for Trump's Executive Order alone. Congress must act
One of the most significant takeaways from the 2024 election was not tied to a single candidate or ballot measure — it was the overwhelming rejection of radical gender ideology.
Since taking office, President Trump has followed through on his commitments to remove this pervasive and damaging ideology from federal policies by signing a host of executive orders undoing the extremist gender policies implemented under the Biden administration.
By contrast, on his first day in office in 2021, former President Biden signed an executive order conflating the definition of “sex” in federal law with “sexual orientation and gender identity.” This order spawned a flurry of agency rules that undermined biblical truth and biological reality. These rules amended Title IX discrimination protections for women, attempted to permit biological men to compete in women’s sports, and mandated taxpayer-funded healthcare coverage of “gender-affirming care.”
On his first day of office earlier this year, President Trump signed an executive order rescinding the Biden order that had launched this assault on people of faith, women, children, and biological reality. After enduring four years of the Biden administration’s progressive agenda pushing for abortion on demand and radical gender ideology, a change in the executive branch's policies are a welcome reprieve from the madness.
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Southern Baptists have been outspoken in their opposition to the gender chaos incited by the Biden administration. As the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, Southern Baptists have repeatedly drawn attention to the ways harmful gender ideology affects vulnerable children and the institution of the family.
But it is not just Southern Baptists who feel this way. Americans' views on gender ideology have shifted significantly over the past several years as they have recognized the detrimental effects experimental drugs and radical procedures have on minors and the ways these progressive policies consistently strip away parental rights. A February Pew Research Poll found that two-thirds of Americans believe sports should be restricted by biological sex, and 56% of Americans favor restrictions on “gender transitions” for minors, a 10% increase from just three years ago. The favorability of these policies is climbing across the ideological spectrum for Republicans and Democrats alike.
It is clear Americans want substantive change in Washington — including relief from the gender ideology exhaustion so many are experiencing. However, Congress must bear the responsibility of permanently codifying the actions taken by President Trump in this area into federal law. By design, presidential orders only last as long as the current executive and his party hold the White House. Permanency requires action by Congress, as the Founding Fathers intended.
The good news is several lawmakers have already introduced legislation to make these executive actions from the Trump administration permanent. The ERLC has supported the Protecting Minors from Medical Malpractice Act and the End Taxpayer Funding of Gender Experimentation Act. Together, these bills would eliminate taxpayer complicity in the funding of “gender transitions” and create legal liability for the doctors actively harming children by performing these procedures.
Additionally, President Trump has issued an order on Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports, which can be permanently codified through passing the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. This legislation would prevent federal funds from going to schools that violate Title IX by allowing biological men to compete in women’s sports. It passed the House, but failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to pass the Senate in a party line vote.
Members of Congress, particularly in the Senate, must take notice of the significant shift among the American populace away from a novel view of gender that is detached from reality. Americans clearly rejected this progressive agenda on Nov. 7. It is time for Congress to show bold leadership and serve its constituents by implementing policies that safeguard our children, families, and culture. Particularly, Congress can fulfill its constitutional responsibilities to the American people by passing laws that adhere to what we all know to be true about sex and gender.
If we want to permanently ensure that a future administration does not steamroll these protections with the stroke of a pen, the time for Congress to act is now.
Brent Leatherwood was elected as president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission in 2022, after a year of leading the organization as acting president. Previously, he served as chief of staff at the ERLC, as well as the entity’s director of strategic partnerships. He brings an expertise in public policy to his work, having been the executive director of the Tennessee Republican Party, the director of communications and policy strategy in the Tennessee General Assembly, and working for several years on Capitol Hill.
