NSA Employee Challenges Trump Administration’s Executive Order on Gender Recognition
A National Security Agency data scientist, Sarah O’Neill, has initiated legal action against the Trump administration, aiming to halt the implementation of a presidential directive and related policies that she claims infringe upon federal civil rights statutes.
O’Neill, who identifies as transgender, is contesting the legitimacy of an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on his Inauguration Day. This order mandates that federal operations and documents adhere strictly to recognizing only two “immutable” sexes: male and female.
The lawsuit, submitted on Monday in the U.S. District Court in Maryland, asserts that Trump’s order effectively “declares that it is the policy of the United States government to deny Ms. O’Neill’s very existence.”
While the White House has yet to issue a response to inquiries about the matter, the order, which mirrors Trump’s 2024 campaign rhetoric, has led to the creation of policies that O’Neill is now seeking to challenge.
Following the executive action, O’Neill claims that the NSA withdrew its policies acknowledging her transgender identity and her “right to a workplace free of unlawful harassment.” Additionally, she alleges that she is barred from indicating her pronouns as female in written communications and from using the women’s restroom at her workplace.
O’Neill argues that these policies, along with the executive order that supports them, foster a hostile work environment and contravene Section VII of the Civil Rights Act.
In 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Section VII’s ban on sex-based discrimination extends to gender identity. “We agree that homosexuality and transgender status are distinct concepts from sex,” the court’s majority opinion noted. “But, as we’ve seen, discrimination based on homosexuality or transgender status necessarily entails discrimination based on sex; the first cannot happen without the second.”
O’Neill’s lawsuit contends, “The Executive Order rejects the existence of gender identity altogether, let alone the possibility that someone’s gender identity can differ from their sex, which it characterizes as ‘gender ideology.’”
Beyond restoring her workplace rights and protections, O’Neill is also pursuing financial compensation. Trump’s directive was one of several executive actions enacted shortly after he assumed office. His continuous use of executive orders in his second term has led to numerous legal disputes that are still progressing through the federal court system.
