Trump Makes Supporting Trans People Ineligible For Public Service Loan Forgiveness Via EO

The executive order could impact thousands of civil rights organizations, schools, hospitals, and more.

Trump signs executive order - Official White House Photo

On Friday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order drastically limiting public service workers’ ability to obtain student loan forgiveness. Under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, workers at government agencies and 501(c)(3) nonprofits are eligible for loan forgiveness after 10 years of service. But Trump's order threatens to strip that benefit—specifically targeting employees at organizations that support transgender rights or diversity initiatives. If enforced, the order could have sweeping consequences, cutting off loan relief for workers at countless nonprofits, civil rights organizations, hospitals, and schools across the country.

“The prior administration abused the PSLF Program through a waiver process, using taxpayer funds to pay off loans for employees still years away from the statutorily required number of payments. Moreover, instead of alleviating worker shortages in necessary occupations, the PSLF Program has misdirected tax dollars into activist organizations that not only fail to serve the public interest, but actually harm our national security and American values, sometimes through criminal means,” says the order.

Organizations that would be barred from the order include what the order calls “subsidization of illegal activities, including illegal immigration, human smuggling, child trafficking, pervasive damage to public property, and disruption of the public order, which threaten the security and stability of the United States.” Further down in the order, this includes organizations that support “child abuse, including the chemical and surgical castration or mutilation of children or the trafficking of children to so-called transgender sanctuary States for purposes of emancipation from their lawful parents, in violation of applicable law” as well as organizations that are “engaging in a pattern of aiding and abetting illegal discrimination.”

Both of these are common administration euphemisms for supporting transgender people and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. When viewed alongside other executive orders, the implications become even more sweeping. For example, Trump's ban on “chemical and surgical castration” could extend to organizations that provide, support, or defend the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy. His education-focused executive order goes even further—under its broad language, a teacher using a transgender student’s name and pronouns could be accused of “practicing medicine without a license.”

Clearly, many organizations could be swept up in this attempt to remove Public Service Loan Forgiveness for those supporting transgender people.

The most immediate targets are LGBTQ+ organizations operating as 501(c)(3) nonprofits. Many health centers and clinics explicitly serve LGBTQ+ populations, offering gender-affirming care for both youth and adults. These organizations are already under pressure—just recently, Whitman-Walker in Washington, D.C., removed references to transgender people and gender identity from its website in response to mounting threats, only to restore them after public backlash. Under Trump's executive order, such centers could face even greater risk, with their funding and operations directly threatened for providing essential care.

Legal organizations are also likely to face threats. If the ACLU or Lambda Legal’s defense of transgender rights is interpreted as materially aiding transgender youth in accessing care, their employees could see their PSLF eligibility revoked under the administration’s justification that they are "harming our national security and American values." While this may seem extreme, the administration has already shown a willingness to retaliate against legal opposition. It recently targeted the law firm Perkins Coie for challenging its policies, barring its attorneys from federal buildings through an executive order written explicitly against them. Now, nonprofits dedicated to challenging the administration’s actions on LGBTQ+ rights could find themselves in the crosshairs.

Hospitals and schools are also at risk. Any hospital providing gender-affirming care for transgender youth would clearly fall under the administration’s prohibition, potentially jeopardizing PSLF eligibility for its employees. Teachers at schools that support transgender students could face similar consequences. The earlier-mentioned education executive order defines socially supporting transgender youth as “practicing medicine without a license,” echoing a common conservative argument that social affirmation "places them on a pathway" to medical transition. Under this broad interpretation, educators who simply acknowledge a transgender student’s identity could be targeted.

The executive order is yet another escalation in the Trump administration’s systematic effort to silence advocacy and erase transgender people from public life. From scrubbing the word "transgender" from federal websites to pressuring organizations to do the same, the administration has made its intentions clear: erase, punish, and eliminate visibility. Now, it isn't just transgender people being targeted—anyone who defends them could face financial retaliation, with workers in hospitals, schools, and nonprofits forced to choose between their livelihoods and standing up for basic human rights. This is not just policy; it is a deliberate, authoritarian attempt to push transgender people—and those who support them—out of society entirely.