This weekend, the Trump administration has decided to erase the existence of trans people through the U.S. Health Department. 

A memo from the department is set to be released earlier this year stating that gender identity does not exist and that gender is set at birth and defined by genitalia. As The Advocate reports, the Department of Health and Human Services is seeking to make its definition uniform among all federal agencies, including those that must comply with the federal civil rights law known as Title IX, which bans discrimination in public education under the basis of sex. 

This definition could mean recently-enacted protections for transgender people, in areas like health care coverage and bathroom access in public schools and universities, would no longer be applicable. In other words, Trump will be erasing any progress in that regard that’s taken place in the last several years. 

Should the new policy go into effect, the only way for people to legally dispute the sex on their birth certificate would be through genetic testing.

Its most immediate impact will likely be felt among trans people when they encounter health care discrimination or are denied the use of facilities in public schools and universities that comport with their gender identity.