Abstract
Sex is at the very core of individual identity. It affects the conception of the self and the way others view the individual. Every day, one’s sex may open and close doors, access to communities, and opportunities. Laws that define sex may affirm scientific knowledge and protect people, or threaten to unravel the facts and the reality of sex. A deep unmooring of sex is underway, and this Article aims to halt it. On day one of the current presidential term, January 20, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order on “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” The Executive Order seeks to define sex as immutable at conception in order to stop a problem it characterizes as follows: “Across the country, ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex have increasingly used legal and other socially coercive means to permit men to self-identify as women and gain access to intimate single-sex spaces and activities designed for women, from women’s domestic abuse shelters to women’s workplace showers.” The Executive Order follows laws in multiple states that have restricted access to women’s and girls’ sports, restricted access to bathrooms, and prohibited or restricted access to gender affirming care. This Article takes seriously the assertion that there is a biological reality of sex. By examining the scientific and medical evidence, this Article demonstrates that sex determination does not and cannot occur at fertilization, but is instead a complex process occurring at various stages of human development from the embryonic and fetal stage through adulthood. Ultimately, with this complexity as a guiding frame, this Article concludes that legal definitions and related laws must align with the evidence and the lived experience of individuals.
Recommended Citation
John Parsi, Let’s Talk About the Biological Reality of Sex, Baby, 20 FIU L. Rev. 1011 (2026), https://doi.org/10.25148/lawrev.20.3.10.
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