As President Donald J. Trump’s second term rapidly changes the political landscape in the United States, the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) Department at Stony Brook University is preparing to equip students with the tools to navigate the issues of gender and sexuality across multiple diverse cultures. 

The department’s mission is to introduce students to feminist thought and social movements through history, aiming to help them apply feminist, queer and transgender theories in real-world contexts.

Kaya Rexford, a senior double majoring in WGSS and Asian and Asian American Studies, finds it hard to fully engage with her studies without feeling uncertain about the future of gender and racial justice.

“I think academically it has definitely made it harder for me to read articles and journals about the future of gender and women’s studies,” Rexford said. “It makes me really sad that feminist authors had such hopes for the future that we were finally getting to a place where freedom of sexuality and gender could be accepted but instead we are turning backward. It is hard to read without getting sad, angry and confused on what we should do now.”

As Trump and his administration seek to eliminate what he labels as “illegal” diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, students like Rexford fear that recent legislation changes may disrupt programs that support underrepresented groups on college campuses. 

“I am definitely terrified about the new orders and what the future holds with silencing or removing departments like WGSS that challenge gender and sexuality norms,” Rexford said. “It’s scary to think that departments can just disappear in an instant because it does not align with the ideas of the government. When in fact it is departments like WGSS that we need to defend the rights of not just gender and sexuality but race, class and religion.”

Many concerns about the future of gender and sexuality studies, particularly regarding transgender lives, queer people and marginalized minorities, center around the potential impact of Trump’s recent executive orders, which allow the president to direct federal actions within constitutional limits.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, while some executive orders have had minimal impact, others have been among the federal government’s most controversial actions. 

Liz Montegary, associate professor and chair for the WGSS department and a fellow at the American Association of University Professors’ Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom, has been helping out with the Executive Power Watch project, which monitors executive actions targeting students, faculty and other campus workers. 

The Executive Power Watch report details how Trump’s executive order targeting “gender ideology” may impact individuals and communities, including labeling the legal recognition of transgender, intersex and nonbinary people as “extremism” and asserting that “sex” is determined at conception based on reproductive cells.

Of these effects, the ones most concerning to professionals in the field are “what the executive orders demonizing diversity, equity, inclusion, and access could mean for gender/sexuality and race/ethnic studies,” Montegary wrote in an email to The Statesman. 

This is because the executive order on gender ideology “instructs the Department of Education to rescind guidance documents and resources for protecting LGBTQ+ students,” and “prohibits federal funding for the promotion of gender ideology,” according to the Executive Power Watch report. 

“The Gender Ideology executive order disregards the scholarly consensus that gender identity is variable, mutable, and not based on a ‘biological reality,’” Montegary wrote. “Even worse, it demonizes this academic research as a dangerous ‘ideology.’”

Montegary criticized the Trump administration for its efforts to erase transgender people from public life, accusing it of using misinformation to fuel fear and hate.

“To be clear, the Trump administration is actively seeking to erase transgender people from public life — they are stripping them of rights and protections [and] they are exploiting misinformation about transgender people to fuel fear, hate and moral panic,” Montegary wrote. 

In response to the growing pressures on the field, Montegary defended the department, emphasizing its commitment to questioning societal norms and exploring gender. 

“WGSS consists of a diverse body of thought that approaches gender as a social construct; like other academic disciplines and interdisciplines, WGSS asks questions, interrogates dominant assumptions and involves a great deal of debate and disagreement,” Montegary wrote. “In contrast, those opposing gender studies are the people imposing an ideology — enforcing strict gender and sexual norms — insisting on a singular definition of sex.” 

Even with this underlying fear driving the department’s actions, Montegary and her peers claim to feel very supported by the College of Arts and Sciences and by the University. 

“WGSS is growing, four new faculty members joined our department in the past two years,” Montegary wrote. “Our classes are very popular. They are always filled with waitlists. Our major and especially our minor are getting bigger. This seems to be a trend across the country.”

Last year, the National Women’s Studies Association published a report showing that professors of women and gender studies nationally say students’ interest in the field is growing despite right-wing criticism. 

“So, in spite of everything, this is an exciting moment for WGSS at Stony Brook, and we are feeling energized to continue doing the work of asking questions, building community, producing insurgent knowledge, and creating a more just world,” Montegary wrote. 

In light of Trump’s executive orders, University officials reaffirmed their dedication to DEI initiatives in an email to The Statesman.

“SUNY’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is unwavering, and we will continue to review new federal policies that may impact our campus community as they arise,” University officials wrote.

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