A coalition of House Democrats is raising the alarm over what they call a dangerous rollback of civil rights for queer federal employees. In a letter recently sent, Representatives Ritchie Torres of New York, Becca Balint of Vermont, Mark Takano of California, and others warned Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent against a proposed policy change that would eliminate sexual orientation and gender identity as listed protections on the department’s Equal Employment Opportunity forms. Lawmakers say this move would not only confuse workers but also make it harder to report discrimination.
The letter said,
“Employees should not have to know EEOC or Supreme Court precedent to know that the discrimination they faced on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation is unlawful sex discrimination that can be reported.”
This comes in response to President Trump’s January executive order that redefines sex as a strictly binary, biological category. The order, titled “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” instructs all agencies to erase gender identity references and only recognize male or female on official documents. That directive puts pressure on agencies like the Treasury, which under former Secretary Janet Yellen had pledged zero tolerance for discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Now, under Bessent, a gay billionaire, the department is signaling a shift.
Torres told The Advocate,
“It’s deeply troubling to see someone who has benefited from civil rights protections turn around and try to strip them from others. Secretary Bessent’s move to erase sexual orientation and gender identity from EEO forms signals to LGBTQ+ federal employees that their government may no longer stand with them. That is a betrayal.”
While the Supreme Court’s Bostock decision still protects queer workers under Title VII, Democrats warn that the administration’s push for so-called “biological truth” could erode those protections from within. The Treasury Department has not commented.
