The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has paused investigations into workplace discrimination complaints based on gender identity or sexual orientation. Multiple EEOC sources confirm to Mother Jones that staff have been ordered to stop processing both new and existing cases. An EEOC employee confirms, “There is what they are calling a pause on investigations of both transgender rights and sexual orientation charges.”
The decision follows an executive order from President Donald Trump, directing agencies to enforce laws based on “biologically distinct sexes.” While the order does not explicitly rescind LGBTQ protections, EEOC staff say they fear backlash from the administration. According to a former EEOC employee, “People are afraid of being on the wrong side of this administration.”
The move contradicts the Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, which held that discrimination based on LGBTQ status violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Additionally, the EEOC has removed nonbinary gender markers and pronoun options from its complaint system. Employees report seeing all sexual orientation and gender identity cases labeled: “SOGI PAUSED.”
