Gender Neutral Bathrooms Executive Order
With a recent executive order that defined sex as strictly male or female, many employers are questioning whether gender-neutral restrooms and related inclusion and diversity (I&D) policies remain. A trans federal employee, backed by legal groups, this week sued over Trump's order that limits which bathroom individuals can use in government buildings. The executive order mandates that all federal agencies must replace the term "gender" with "sex" in all official materials and policies.
It explicitly requires recognition of only two "immutable" biological sexes, determined at conception. This directive extends to ceasing all federal funding for gender-affirming care, disallowing gender self. The Trump administration is ordering federal agencies to bar transgender workers from single-sex facilities that match their gender identity by Friday and fire any employees working on "gender.
Among other things, the executive order directed federal agencies to enforce laws governing sex-based rights, protections, opportunities, and accommodations to protect men and women as biologically distinct sexes, and to remove all statements, policies, regulations, forms, communications, or other internal and external messages promoting gender. President Trump has made access to public restrooms and other gendered facilities an early focal point of his administration. For example, on January 20, 2025, the president issued an executive order entitled "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government," which defines sex as only male and female, determined "at conception.
BestPractices A Guide to Restroom Access for Transgender Workers Core principle: All employees, including transgender employees, should have access to restrooms that correspond to their gender identity. Practically speaking, employers could be between a rock and a hard place on this issue: do you permit transgender and non-binary/gender nonconforming employees to use the bathroom that aligns with gender identity and risk EEOC enforcement action, or prohibit such conduct in alignment with the executive order and risk gender discrimination. The who behind gender-neutral bathroom laws is a complex question.
In the United States, the issue of gender-neutral bathrooms, particularly regarding transgender individuals' access, has been a contentious topic. Executive Order 16 follows a legal enforcement guidance issued by the NYC Commission on Human Rights in December 2015, which clarifies that denying access to bathrooms or other single.
