President Donald Trump signed executive orders proclaiming that the U.S. government will recognize only two sexes, male and female, and ending “radical and wasteful” diversity, equity and inclusion programs inside federal agencies, writes NBC NEWS.

The gender order states that it will “defend women’s rights and protect freedom of conscience by using clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male”.

It requires that the federal government use the term “sex” instead of “gender”, and directs the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security to “require that government-issued identification documents, including passports, visas, and Global Entry cards, accurately reflect the holder’s sex”.

“Across the country, ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex have increasingly used legal and other socially coercive means to permit men to self-identify as women and gain access to intimate single-sex spaces and activities designed for women, from women’s domestic abuse shelters to women’s workplace showers. This is wrong. Efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex fundamentally attack women by depriving them of their dignity, safety, and well-being. The erasure of sex in language and policy has a corrosive impact not just on women but on the validity of the entire American system. Basing Federal policy on truth is critical to scientific inquiry, public safety, morale, and trust in government itself”, - the order reads.

In 2022, the Biden administration allowed U.S. citizens to be able to select the gender-neutral “X” as a marker on their passports. On Tuesday, a page on the State Department website that had previously included instructions on updating passport gender markers was no longer accessible, instead redirecting to a general U.S. passports page.

The gender order also prevents taxpayer funds from being used for gender-transition health care and mandates “privacy in intimate spaces” to ensure that single-sex spaces, such as prisons and rape shelters, are designated by sex and not gender identity.