\n<\/p>\n
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they\u2019re published.<\/p>\n
It was meant to be a routine discussion on pollution. One by one, delegates at the United Nations expressed support for a new panel of scientists who would advise countries on how to address chemicals and toxic waste.<\/p>\n
But the U.S. delegate took the meeting in a new direction. She spent her allotted three minutes reminding the world that the United States now had a \u201cnational position\u201d on a single word in the documents establishing the panel: gender.<\/p>\n
\u201cUse of the term \u2018gender\u2019 replaces the biological category of sex with an ever-shifting concept of self-assessed gender identity and is demeaning and unfair, especially to women and girls,\u201d the delegate told the U.N. in June.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration is pushing its anti-trans agenda on a global stage, repeatedly objecting to the word \u201cgender\u201d in international resolutions and documents. During at least six speeches before the U.N., U.S. delegates have denounced so-called \u201cgender ideology\u201d or reinforced the administration\u2019s support for language that \u201crecognizes women are biologically female and men are biologically male.\u201d<\/p>\n
The delegates included federal civil service employees and the associate director of Project 2025, the conservative blueprint for Trump\u2019s policies, who now works for the State Department. They delivered these statements during U.N. forums on topics as varied as women\u2019s rights, science and technology, global health, toxic pollution and chemical waste. Even a resolution meant to reaffirm cooperation between the U.N. and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations became an opportunity to bring up the issue.<\/p>\n
Insisting that everyone\u2019s gender is determined biologically at birth leaves no room for the existence of transgender, nonbinary and intersex people, who face discrimination and violence around the world. Intersex people have variations in chromosomes, hormone levels or anatomy that differ from what\u2019s considered typical for male and female bodies. A federal report published in January just before President Donald Trump took office, estimated there are more than 5 million intersex Americans.<\/p>\n
On at least two occasions, U.S. delegates urged the U.N. to adopt its language on men and women, though it\u2019s unclear if the U.S.\u2019 position has led to any policy changes at the U.N. But the effects of the country\u2019s objections are more than symbolic, said Kristopher Velasco, a sociology professor at Princeton University who studies how international institutions and nongovernmental organizations have worked to expand or curtail LGBTQ+ rights.<\/p>\n
U.N. documents can influence countries\u2019 policies over time and set an international standard for human rights, which advocates can cite as they campaign for less discriminatory policies, Velasco said. The phrase \u201cgender ideology\u201d has emerged as a \u201ccatchall term\u201d for far-right anxieties about declining fertility rates and a decrease in \u201ctraditional\u201d heterosexual families, he said.<\/p>\n
At the U.N., the administration has promoted other aspects of its domestic agenda. For example, U.S. delegates have demanded the removal of references to tackling climate change and voted against an International Day of Hope because the text contained references to diversity, equity and inclusion. (The two-page document encouraged a \u201cmore inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to economic growth\u201d and welcomed \u201crespect for diversity.\u201d)<\/p>\n
But the reflexive resistance to the word \u201cgender\u201d is particularly noteworthy.<\/p>\n
Advocates for LGBTQ+ rights said the U.S.\u2019 repeated condemnation of \u201cgender ideology\u201d signals support for more repressive regimes.<\/p>\n
The U.S. is sending the world \u201ca clear message: that the identities and rights of trans, nonbinary, and intersex people are negotiable,\u201d Ash Lazarus Orr, press relations manager at the nonprofit Advocates for Trans Equality, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Laurel Sprague, research director at the Williams Institute, a policy center focused on sexual orientations and gender identities at the University of California, Los Angeles, said she\u2019s concerned that other countries will take similar positions on transgender rights to gain favor with the U.S. Last month Mike Waltz, Trump\u2019s nominee for ambassador to the U.N., told a Senate committee that he wants to use a country\u2019s record of voting with or against the U.S. at the U.N. as a metric for deciding foreign aid.<\/p>\n
In response to detailed questions from ProPublica, White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement: \u201cPresident Trump was overwhelmingly elected to restore common sense to government, which means focusing foreign policy on securing peace deals and putting America First \u2014 not enforcing woke gender ideology.\u201d<\/p>\n
A clash between Trump\u2019s administration and certain U.N. institutions over transgender rights was almost inevitable.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s hostility to transgender rights was a key part of his election campaign. On his first day in office, he issued an executive order called \u201cDefending women from gender ideology extremism and restoring biological truth to the federal government.\u201d The order claimed there were only two \u201cimmutable\u201d sexes. Eight days later, Trump signed an executive order restricting gender-affirming surgery for anyone under 19. Federal agencies have since forced trans service members out of the military and sued California for its refusal to ban trans athletes from girls\u2019 sports teams.<\/p>\n
In June, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights criticized American government officials for their statements \u201cvilifying transgender and non-binary people.\u201d The human rights office urges U.N. member states to provide gender-affirming care and says the organization has \u201caffirmed the right of trans persons to legal recognition of their gender identity and a change of gender in official documents, including birth certificates.\u201d The office also supports the rights of intersex people.<\/p>\n
\u201cIntersex people in the U.S. are extremely worried\u201d that they will become bigger targets, said Sylvan Fraser Anthony, legal and policy director at the intersex advocacy group InterACT.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn all regions of the world, we are witnessing a pushback against women\u2019s human rights and gender equality,\u201d Laura Gelbert Godinho Delgado, a spokesperson for the U.N.\u2019s human rights office, said in an email. \u201cThis has fueled misogyny, anti-LGBTI rhetoric, and hate speech.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Trump administration\u2019s insistence on litigating \u201cgender\u201d complicates the already ponderous procedures of the U.N. Many decisions are made by consensus, which could require representatives from more than 100 countries to agree on every word. Phrases and single words still under debate are marked with brackets. Some draft documents end up with hundreds of brackets, awaiting resolution at a subsequent date.<\/p>\n
At the June meeting on chemical pollution, delegates decided to form a scientific panel but couldn\u2019t agree on crucial details about whether the panel\u2019s purpose included \u201cthe protection of human health and the environment.\u201d A description of the panel included brackets on whether it would work in a way that integrates \u201cgender equality and equity\u201d or \u201cequality between men and women.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.S. delegate, Liz Nichols, reminded the U.N. at one point that it \u201cis the policy of the United States to use clear and accurate language that recognizes women are biologically female and men are biologically male. It is important to acknowledge the biological reality of sex to support the needs and perspectives of women and girls.\u201d<\/p>\n
Career staffers like Nichols are hired for subject-matter expertise and work to execute the agenda of whichever administration is in charge, regardless of personal beliefs. Nichols has a doctorate in ecology from Columbia University and has worked for the State Department since 2018. When asked for comment, she referred ProPublica to the State Department.<\/p>\n
A State Department spokesperson said in a statement, \u201cAs President Trump\u2019s Executive Orders and our public remarks have repeatedly stated, this administration will continue to defend women\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gender is a crucial factor in chemical safety, said Rachel Radvany, environmental health campaigner at the Center for International Environmental Law who attended the meeting. Pregnant people are uniquely vulnerable to chemical exposure and women are disproportionately exposed to toxic compounds, including through beauty and menstrual products.<\/p>\n
Radvany said the statement read by Nichols contributed to the uncertainty on how the panel would consider gender in its work. The brackets around gender-related issues and other topics remained in the draft decision and will have to be resolved at a future gathering that may not happen until next summer.<\/p>\n
The U.S. has also staked out similar positions at U.N. meetings focused on gender. At a session of the Commission on the Status of Women in March, Jonathan Shrier, a longtime State Department employee who now works for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, said the U.S. disapproved of a declaration supporting \u201cthe empowerment of all women and girls\u201d that mentioned the word \u201cgender.\u201d The phrase \u201call women and girls\u201d in U.N. documents has been used as a way to be inclusive of trans women and girls.<\/p>\n
Shrier read a statement saying that several factors in the text made it impossible for the U.S. to back the resolution, which the commission had recently adopted. That included \u201clapses in using clear and accurate language that recognizes women are biologically female and men are biologically male.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the summit, Shrier repeated those talking points at an event co-sponsored by the U.S. government and the Center for Family and Human Rights, or C-Fam. The group\u2019s mission statement says its goal is the \u201cpreservation of international law by discrediting socially radical policies at the United Nations and other international institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shrier directed questions to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, which did not respond. Responding to questions from ProPublica, C-Fam\u2019s president, Austin Ruse, said in a statement that the U.S. position on gender is in line with the definitions found in an important U.N. document on the empowerment of women from 1995.<\/p>\n
Some countries have pushed back against the U.S.\u2019 stance, often in ways that appear subtle to the casual observer. The U.N. social and environmental forums where these speeches have been delivered tend to operate with a culture of civility and little direct confrontation, said Alessandra Nilo, external relations director for the Americas and the Caribbean at the International Planned Parenthood Federation. Nilo has participated in U.N. forums on HIV\/AIDS and women\u2019s health since 2000.<\/p>\n
When other delegates speak out in support of diversity and women\u2019s rights, it\u2019s a sign of their disapproval and a way to isolate the U.S., Nilo said. During the women\u2019s rights summit, the delegate from Brazil celebrated \u201cthe expansion of gender and diversity language\u201d in the declaration.<\/p>\n
Nilo said many countries are scared to speak out for fear of losing trade deals or potential foreign aid from the U.S.<\/p>\n
Advocating an \u201cAmerica First\u201d platform, Trump has upended U.S. commitments to multinational organizations and alliances. He signed orders withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization and various U.N. bodies, such as the Human Rights Council and the cultural group UNESCO.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s rare for the U.N. to directly affect legislation in the U.S. But the Trump administration repeatedly cites concerns that U.N. documents could supersede American policy.<\/p>\n
In April, the U.S. criticized a draft resolution on global health debated at a meeting of the U.N. Commission on Population and Development. Spencer Chretien, the U.S. delegate, opposed references to the U.N.\u2019s Sustainable Development Goals, which provide a blueprint for how countries can prosper economically while improving gender equality and protecting the environment. Chretien called the program a form of \u201csoft global governance\u201d that conflicts with national sovereignty. Chretien also touted the administration\u2019s \u201cunequivocal rejection of gender ideology extremism\u201d and renewed membership in the Geneva Consensus Declaration, an antiabortion document signed by more than 30 countries, including Russia, Hungary, Saudi Arabia and South Sudan. The first Trump administration co-sponsored the initiative in 2020 before the Biden administration withdrew from it.<\/p>\n
Chretien helped write Project 2025 when he worked at The Heritage Foundation. He is now a senior bureau official in the State Department\u2019s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration. Chretien couldn\u2019t be reached for comment.<\/p>\n
\n Trump Administration Halted Lawsuits Targeting Civil Rights Abuses of Prisoners and Mentally Ill People<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n The U.N. proposal on global health faced additional opposition from Burundi, Djibouti and Nigeria, where abortion is generally illegal. Delegates from those countries were upset about references to \u201csexual and reproductive health services,\u201d which could include abortion access. The commission chair withdrew the resolution, seeing no way to reach consensus.<\/p>\n During a July forum about a document on sustainable development, the U.S. delegate, Shrier, asked for a vote on several paragraphs about gender, climate change and various forms of discrimination. In his objections, he cited two paragraphs that he argued advanced \u201cthis radical abortion agenda through the terms \u2018sexual and reproductive health\u2019 and \u2018reproductive rights.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The final vote on whether to retain those paragraphs was 141 to 2, with only the U.S. and Ethiopia voting no. (Several countries abstained.) <\/p>\n When the results lit up the screen, the chamber broke into thunderous applause.<\/p>\n Doris Burke contributed research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they\u2019re published. It was meant to be a routine discussion on pollution. One by one, delegates at the United Nations expressed support for a new panel of scientists who would advise countries on how to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[794,233,7857,7858,247,7794,81],"class_list":{"0":"post-14202","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-social-issues","8":"tag-administration","9":"tag-agenda","10":"tag-antitrans","11":"tag-globally","12":"tag-propublica","13":"tag-pushing","14":"tag-trump"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14202\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}