Federal Agencies Must Stop Asking About Gender Identity on Forms, Reject Non-Binary Answers

This legislation, titled the “Restoring Biological Truth in Government Act,” is pretty straightforward about its goal: it completely bans all federal executive agencies from asking about gender identity on any official form or survey. If you’ve ever filled out a government form for health care, student aid, or a job application, you know these agencies collect a lot of data. This bill cuts off one specific data point—gender identity—and mandates that the only acceptable answers for sex or gender are strictly “male” or “female.”

The New Rules for Filling Out Forms

Here’s the real-world impact of Section 2: If a federal agency form asks for your sex or gender, you will only see two options: male or female. If you try to write in or select any other option (like non-binary, genderqueer, or simply leaving it blank if it's a required field), the agency is instructed to reject your submission entirely. Think about that for a second: a rejected form could mean delayed benefits, denied services, or administrative headaches, all because of how you answered a demographic question. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has 180 days after the bill becomes law to issue guidance, meaning this change would hit every corner of the federal bureaucracy quickly.

Defining Sex and Gender By Reproductive Parts

To enforce the two-option rule, the bill locks down the definitions of 'male' and 'female' based solely on reproductive systems. Male is defined as an individual who naturally has or would have the reproductive system capable of producing sperm, and female is defined similarly, based on the ability to produce eggs. The bill is clear that gender in this context is just a synonym for sex and explicitly states it does not mean gender identity, expression, or roles. This is a crucial distinction because it removes the ability for agencies to collect data that reflects a person’s lived reality, forcing a strict biological binary standard on all federal data collection.

Who Feels the Change?

For most people, the immediate change might just be fewer options on a drop-down menu. But for transgender and non-binary individuals, this bill creates a significant barrier. If you need to access a federal service—say, applying for a small business loan, renewing a passport, or accessing specific health care programs—and you cannot accurately identify yourself on the form, you risk having that application rejected outright. This denial of accurate self-identification can hinder access to services and make it nearly impossible for federal agencies to track disparities or discrimination against these populations, effectively making it harder to ensure equitable treatment.

The Data Collection Fallout

This isn't just about personal feelings; it's about policy and research. Many federal agencies, like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), rely on gender identity data to understand health outcomes, target interventions, and monitor civil rights compliance. By prohibiting the collection of this data, the bill essentially flies blind regarding the specific needs and challenges faced by transgender and non-binary people. It makes it harder for the government to allocate resources where they are most needed or to enforce non-discrimination policies if they can’t even track who is being affected.