By Tyler Arnold
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 5, 2025 / 09:30 am
President Donald Trump urged members of Congress to pass laws that build on his executive orders to curtail gender ideology in public life during his address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night.
“I want Congress to pass a bill banning and criminalizing sex changes on children and forever ending the lie that any child is trapped in the wrong body,” Trump told members of Congress, which drew loud applause from Republican lawmakers and silence from Democrats.
“This is a big lie and our message to every child in America is that you are perfect exactly the way God made you,” Trump added. “… We’re getting wokeness out of our schools and out of our military and it’s already out — it’s out of our society. We don’t want it.”
Trump’s March 4 address, which began shortly after 9 p.m., was contentious with Democrats at times. The president focused his first address to Congress in his second term on the executive orders he has signed and his desire for Congress to codify those policies into federal law.
Some issues he focused on included gender ideology, illegal immigration, affordability and the economy, domestic energy expansion, and efforts to reform the government and cut spending.
“My fellow Americans, get ready for an incredible future because the golden age of America has only just begun.” Trump said. “It will be like nothing that has ever been seen before.”
When the president noted that he won the popular vote during the beginning of his speech, he received loud applause from Republicans and jeers from Democrats.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson issued a warning to Democrats after some of the jeers interrupted the president’s speech, which ultimately led to him ordering the removal of Democratic Rep. Al Green following repeated violations. Many Democrats held signs that read “Save Medicaid” in protest of the House Republican spending plan.
“It’s very sad and it just shouldn’t be this way,” Trump said in response to jeers from Democrats.
“For the good of our nation, let’s work together and let’s truly make America great again,” he added.
Gender ideology remains in focus
During his speech, Trump spoke about several executive orders he signed to curtail gender ideology. This includes an order to deny federal funding for K–12 schools that “socially transition” a child’s gender as well as an order that rescinds federal funds for health care providers that perform gender transition surgeries on children and offer them gender transition drugs.
During his speech, Trump commended one of the White House’s guests, January Littlejohn, who sued the Leon County School Board in Florida after school officials socially transitioned her middle school daughter without Littlejohn’s knowledge or permission. Trump called her a “courageous advocate against this form of child abuse.”
“Stories like this are why shortly after taking office, I signed an executive order banning public schools from indoctrinating our children with transgender ideology,” the president said. “I also signed an order to cut off all taxpayer funding to any institution that engages in the sexual mutilation of our youth.”
Trump also highlighted his executive order to deny federal funds for K–12 schools and colleges that allow men to play in women’s sports and praised former student athlete Payton McNabb for her advocacy against men competing against women.
“Three years ago, Payton McNabb was an all star high school athlete, one of the best, preparing for a future in college sports,” Trump said. “But when her girls’ volleyball match was invaded by a male, he smashed the ball so hard in Payton’s face [that he caused] traumatic brain injury, partially paralyzing her right side and ending her athletic career. It was a shot like she’s never seen before. She’s never seen anything like it.”
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“From now on, schools will kick the men off the girls’ team or they will lose all federal funding,” Trump said, calling the practice of allowing men to play in women’s leagues “demeaning for women” and “very bad for our country. We’re not going to put up with it any longer.”
The House of Representatives in January passed a bill that would have codified the ban on men in women’s sports. However, this week, Democratic lawmakers blocked a similar bill in the Senate.
Tyler Arnold is a staff reporter for Catholic News Agency, based in EWTN News’ Washington Bureau. He previously worked at The Center Square and has been published in a variety of outlets, including The Associated Press, National Review, The American Conservative, and The Federalist.
