The Open Door Club, a student led organization provides a safe space for LGBTQ+ students. Within the first two weeks of his second term, President Donald Trump has signed nearly 40 executive orders, among them are the controversial directives concerning transgender people.

In a series of executive orders, Trump has made moves to ban transgender athletes not only from sports but even the possibility of competing, serving in the military, rejecting the existence of genders beyond male and female.

In response to this, Max Probst, an advisor to the Open-Door Club at Bucks County, says “the United States is moving backwards as a country when it comes to trans rights” – and that Trump is “actively targeting trans people with federal directives such as the 2-gender executive order” which was signed on January 20th, 2025.

“Trans people (and others who will be targeted by this false idea of a gender binary) will be hurt by the policies created by Trump’s administration”, says Probst, “but we will never stop fighting for our rights to exist.”

During the interview held, many subjects were addressed regarding transgender people and the LGBTQ+ community. Particularly in relation to the 2-gender executive order, and its substantial consequences for the LGBTQ+ community.

When Probst first heard of the order being signed, he said that he “wasn’t surprised that such an order was issued because of the trans targeting”- but that he was concerned for the queer and trans students at Bucks.

In his capacity as an educator, Probst tries to guide his students, helping them reach a better future for themselves. He expressed how difficult it is to demonstrate a brighter future for his students when they feel like their rights are being stripped away almost every day.

Probst then went on to state that the 2-gender order holds substantial consequences for the LGBTQ+ community, as it paves the way for other similar orders to be put in place.

He listed the military ban on transgender people, limiting access to affirmative care for transgender youth, ordering trans federal prisoners to be detransition as removing research from the Center for Disease Control and prevention that reference gender, transgender, LGBTQ, and non-binary as examples of such orders.

Probst shared the sentiment that trans people – a small minority in this country – are afraid to speak out for themselves as the President suppresses their voice by signing targeted orders such as the recent 2-gender order and that the government takes advantage of this fear, continuously waging attacks that trans people cannot parry- thus creating an endless, vicious cycle.

Probst then went on to criticize the logic behind the executive order, citing that trans people have existed for as long as the concept of gender has- so the two gender ideology, the foundation of the order, is flawed.

On top of that, Probst spoke about how this order would also affect intersex people who were born different, it wasn’t a choice for them and yet they’re getting punished for simply existing.

While Probst is unsure of whether Trump’s 2 gender executive order will ever be undone, for the sake of all trans people, he remains hopeful that eventually that one day, the effects of the federal directives will be reversed.