Executive Order 14168

Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government

Signed January 20, 2025, printed at 90 FR 8615. 7 sections of substance, 2,046 words.

In plain English

This order says sex is set at birth and cannot change. Federal papers and rules must use that meaning. It covers prisons and shelters.

Read it at the Federal Register →

Sec. 1. Purpose

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. This unhealthy road is paved by an ongoing and purposeful attack against the ordinary and longstanding use and understanding of biological and scientific terms, replacing

In plain English

This sets out the case the order makes. It says some spaces are meant for women only. It names shelters and workplace showers. It says letting men in harms women. It says it strips them of safety and dignity. It says policy must rest on what it calls truth.

Sec. 2. Policy and Definitions

It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality. Under my direction, the Executive Branch will enforce all sex- protective laws to promote this reality, and the following definitions shall govern all Executive interpretation of and application of Federal law and administration policy: (a) ``Sex'' shall refer to an individual's immutable biological classification as either male or female. ``Sex'' is not a synonym for and does not include the concept of ``gender identity.'' (b) ``Women'' or ``woman'' and ``girls'' or ``girl'' shall mean adult and juvenile human females, respectively. (c) ``Men'' or ``man'' and ``boys'' or ``boy'' shall mean adult and juvenile human males, respectively. (d) ``Female'' means a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces

In plain English

This sets the policy and defines the terms. It says there are two sexes, male and female. It says sex cannot be changed. Sex is not the same as gender identity. Woman and girl mean a female adult or child. Man and boy mean a male adult or child. Female is set by which cells a body makes.

Sec. 3. Recognizing Women Are Biologically Distinct From Men

(a) Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall provide to the U.S. Government, external partners, and the public clear guidance expanding on the sex-based definitions set forth in this order. (b) Each agency and all Federal employees shall enforce laws governing sex-based rights, protections, opportunities, and accommodations to protect men and women as biologically distinct sexes. Each agency should therefore give the terms ``sex'', ``male'', ``female'', ``men'', ``women'', ``boys'' and ``girls'' the meanings set forth in section 2 of this order when interpreting or applying statutes, regulations, or guidance and in all other official agency business, documents, and communications. (c) When administering or enforcing sex-based distinctions, every agency and all Federal employees acting in an official capacity on behalf of their agency

In plain English

This calls for guidance within 30 days. The health agency must write it. It must build on the new definitions. Every agency must use those words that way. That covers rules, forms and daily work. Staff must apply them when reading the law.

Sec. 4. Privacy in Intimate Spaces

(a) The Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security shall ensure that males are not detained in women's prisons or housed in women's detention centers, including through amendment, as necessary, of Part 115.41 of title 28, Code of Federal Regulations and interpretation guidance regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act. [[Page 8617]] (b) The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall prepare and submit for notice and comment rulemaking a policy to rescind the final rule entitled ``Equal Access in Accordance with an Individual's Gender Identity in Community Planning and Development Programs'' of September 21, 2016, 81 FR 64763, and shall submit for public comment a policy protecting women seeking single-sex rape shelters. (c) The Attorney General shall ensure that the Bureau of Prisons revises its policies concerning medical care to be consistent with this order, and

In plain English

This is about prisons and shelters. Two agency heads must keep men out of women's prisons. A federal rule is to be changed to that end. The housing agency must move to drop a 2016 rule. It must also seek comment on single sex shelters. Prison medical policy must be revised too.

Sec. 5. Protecting Rights

The Attorney General shall issue guidance to ensure the freedom to express the binary nature of sex and the right to single-sex spaces in workplaces and federally funded entities covered by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In accordance with that guidance, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Labor, the General Counsel and Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and each other agency head with enforcement responsibilities under the Civil Rights Act shall prioritize investigations and litigation to enforce the rights and freedoms identified.

In plain English

This is about speech and single sex spaces. The Attorney General must issue guidance. It covers workplaces and bodies that take federal money. A 1964 civil rights law is the frame. Four officials must then act on that guidance. They must give priority to such cases.

Sec. 6. Bill Text

Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs shall present to the President proposed bill text to codify the definitions in this order.

In plain English

This asks for a bill. A White House aide handles laws in Congress. That aide has 30 days. It must give the President draft text. The text would write this order's definitions into law. Congress would then have to pass it.

Sec. 7. Agency Implementation and Reporting

(a) Within 120 days of the date of this order, each agency head shall submit an update on implementation of this order to the President, through the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. That update shall address: (i) changes to agency documents, including regulations, guidance, forms, and communications, made to comply with this order; and (ii) agency-imposed requirements on federally funded entities, including contractors, to achieve the policy of this order. (b) The requirements of this order supersede conflicting provisions in any previous Executive Orders or Presidential Memoranda, including but not limited to Executive Orders 13988 of January 20, 2021, 14004 of January 25, 2021, 14020 and 14021 of March 8, 2021, and 14075 of June 15, 2022. These Executive Orders are hereby rescinded, and the White House Gender Policy Council established by Executive Order 14020 is

In plain English

This asks for reports in 120 days. Each agency head must say what changed. That covers rules, forms and messages. It also covers terms set for contractors. This order beats older ones that clash. Five earlier orders are cancelled by name. A White House council set up by one of them is closed.

Sec. 8. General Provisions

Every order carries this. It is not what the order does.

(a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. (d) If any provision of this order, or the application of any provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remainder of this order and the application of its provisions to

In plain English

This is the closing clause that nearly every order carries. It says the order does not change what the law already allows. It also says no one can sue to enforce it.

How this order is quoted

Each section is quoted as the order prints it, under its own number and heading. Executive orders are United States government works and are not under copyright. Long sections are cut at a sentence and the whole order is a click away.