DOE Wants Programs to ‘Affirm The Reality Of Biological Sex’

The Department of Education (DOE) told its employees by email that all programs and policies that “fail to affirm the reality of biological sex” will be cut. According to ProPublica the email, sent out Friday January 31, says,”These corrective measures will include thorough review and subsequent termination of Departmental programs, contracts, policies, outward-facing media, regulations, and internal practices.” It is unclear which specific programs the email is referring to, meaning that many programs set to support trans students could be in danger. The DOE has already removed resources from its website that had tips about how to support LGBTQ+ youth experiencing houselessness.

The email also puts restrictions on the employees by saying, “Employee resource groups that promote gender ideology and do not affirm the reality of biological sex cannot meet on government property or take place during official work hours.” The current administration and its followers are doing their best to suppress and silence all conversations and ideas that encourage any kind of thought that is outside of their white supremacist view of what gender expression should be. Employees have also previously been instructed to remove pronouns from their emails.

This email follows Trump’s many executive orders that attack trans folks of all ages and many others in underrepresented groups like disabled folks and people of color. The timing and vagueness of this email and these rules may lead one to believe that the DOE is concerned about Trump and Musks’ plans to dissolve the DOE entirely and cut their more inclusive programs, so they are doing their best to comply to decrease the amount of damage the department may take. Musk’s department that he uses to influence governmental proceedings, DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), boasted on their social media (also run by Musk) that they “terminated 29 DEI training grants … One sought to train teachers to ‘help students understand / interrogate the complex histories involved in oppression and help students recognize areas of privilege and power on an individual and collective basis.'”

In the midst of all of these attacks, the current administration and its conservative devotees are purposefully spreading harmful misinformation to block crucial knowledge and resources from reaching the public. This is why they are targeting the Department of Education. Even a quick Google search of “gender ideology definition” will bring up conservative articles and organizations calling being trans a “fever” or a “social contagion.” I encourage everyone to question the media and news they consume. Nothing is going to be unbiased, especially not this writer’s articles, so think about the context the information is coming from. Think about the language people use when telling their story and what they want you to think when you read it. And please, take time away from the internet and see the sun; touch grass. We all could use it.