President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders limiting gender recognition and dismantling Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs cause mixed reactions from students, Boston schools and advocacy groups.
Trump signed an executive order Jan. 20 dictating that the federal government will only recognize two sexes — male and female — and said the sexes are determined by whether someone has egg or sperm cells at birth.
Per the executive order, federal prisons and shelters for migrants will be segregated by this definition of gender. Taxpayer money will not be used to fund transition services for transgender inmates. The order also repeals protections for transgender individuals in the workforce.
A day later, Trump signed another executive order targeting DEI programs. The order halted all federal DEI programs and directed that strong action be taken to “end private sector DEI discrimination.”
LAUREN ALBANO/DFP PHOTOGRAPHER
In response to Trump’s executive order, Northeastern University redirected the link to its DEI office to a website entitled “Belonging at Northeastern.” The new site does not explain where the university’s past office went, nor does it provide any reasoning for the relabelling effort.
“While internal structures and approaches may need to be adjusted, the university’s core values don’t change,” Renata Nyul, vice president for communications at Northeastern University, wrote in an email to the Daily Free Press. “We believe that embracing our differences—and building a community of belonging—makes Northeastern stronger.”
The Boston University administration is still determining how to deal with the executive order.
“We are reviewing and assessing all recent Executive Orders,” BU Spokesperson Colin Riley wrote in a statement to The Daily Free Press.
Among students at BU, reactions to the termination of federal DEI programs are split along party lines.
Nina Gulbransen, a senior at Boston University and president of the BU College Democrats, said DEI executive orders would harm women, people of color and people in the LGBTQIA+ community.
“I think they’re incredibly harmful,” Gulbransen said. “They’re rolling back a lot of progress we’ve made to redress the fact that in the workplace, especially, only a certain demographic is treated equally.”
Grace Price, vice president of the BU College Republicans, said distrust in these executive orders is misplaced.
“Trump taking away even the term DEI has been scary for a lot of people,” Price said. “But what people aren’t realizing is this is not meaning that companies are not going to be able to hire people from different backgrounds.”
Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley wrote in a statement to The Daily Free Press that the executive orders are a “deliberate, calculated attempt to erase marginalized communities from government.”
“We have to call this out for what it is,” Pressley wrote. “Trump’s onslaught against DEI is resegregation and a wholesale attack on our civil rights.”
For Nicholas McCaskill, president of Trans Resistance Massachusetts, an advocacy group based in Boston, the executive orders felt personal.
“I told my partner the other day, it’s almost like we’re living in a Jim Crow Era,” McCaskill said. “I’m just really worried about what that means living in America going forward.”
Tre’Andre Valentine, executive director of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, said he was concerned that Trump’s executive actions would not stop with trans people.
“The administration is putting people through emotional trauma, and that is on purpose,” said Valentine. “It’s meant to tire us out.”
While Democrats and transgender advocacy groups in Boston are troubled by the transgender executive order, conservatives at BU are supportive.
“I think it’s actually a mistake to accommodate these people’s identity if you believe that their identity is not congruent with reality and that it’s steeped in falsehood,” said Colin Sharpe, BU freshman and member of the BU College Republicans. “When you’re accommodating a false identity like that, all you’re really doing is hurting a person in the long run.”
Valentine said he wants to see a statewide implementation of already existing Massachusetts’ laws protecting transgender people.
McCaskill said they were afraid these executive orders would cause Massachusetts to “regress.”
“I have already seen certain school institutions … rolling back their DEI programs,” they said. “We’ve seen some regression happening already.”
In response to criticism of Trump’s executive orders, Price predicted they wouldn’t be as far reaching as detractors expect.
“Just because DEI isn’t federally mandated does not mean that really any of it’s going to go away,” said Price. “It might be a little harder for some people to get hired or to get into college.”
Both Valentine and McCaskill told transgender people to continue to support each other. Valentine advised that transgender allies “show up for their friends, for their neighbors, and family members.”
“It’s okay to be scared,” Valentine said. “Regardless of what they try to do, what they can not take away from you is your authenticity, it’s your joy and it’s your heart’s dream.”
