Trumpworld’s obsession with ‘gender ideology’ comes to the Monterey Planning Commission.

Sara Rubin here. I use the pronouns she/her/hers. I get lazy about identifying myself that way, because my appearance corresponds to what my fellow members of society expect a she/her to look like. Especially for those of us whose gender identity corresponds to our sex at birth, it’s easy to forget that we all have a gender identity, even if you rarely stop to think about it. 

But given the obsession President Donald Trump and his administration have with gender identity, many of us are thinking more than ever about gender—for all the wrong reasons. Today, Trump’s obsession comes to the Monterey Planning Commission when they convene at 4pm (as this newsletter hits your inbox) to talk about pretty routine stuff, like a permit to build a new two-story home. 

Commissioners will also review a proposed annual plan for Community Development Block Grants, funds that are available from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for projects that contribute to housing goals. (In recent memory, the City of Monterey has used these funds for things like $517,386 for a pandemic-era rental assistance program, and to acquire $3.3 million worth of inclusionary units to sell to low-income buyers over the past five years.) 

The draft 2026-27 plan—required in order to receive the federal funds—anticipates close to $1.5 million over the next fiscal year. 

Normally, this would be pretty straightforward. And it would seem to have nothing whatsoever to do with gender—because it doesn’t. But the draft states plainly, “The City of Monterey shall not use grant funds to promote ‘gender ideology,’ as defined in Executive Order 14168, ‘Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.’” The order, signed in 2025, claims (wrongly) that gender is indistinguishable from biological sex. 

Until now, local CDBG plans made no mention of gender other than to note that gender-based discrimination (among other forms of discrimination) is prohibited in the use of federal funds. That City of Monterey officials now feel compelled to cite this hateful, exclusionary order in a housing plan shows just how far Trump’s creepy obsession reaches. 

After Monterey Peninsula Pride flagged the transphobic language and urged supporters to contact city officials, the City issued a press release responding to the backlash. Basically they are trying to jump through hoops—to appease a bigoted president who might otherwise direct HUD to withhold $1.5 million while also claiming to believe in equality. 

“While the clause governs how federal grant funds may be used, it does not change our local commitment to inclusive service delivery or who we serve. We are actively coordinating with HUD to ensure we meet federal requirements while upholding Monterey’s values of inclusion and nondiscrimination,” City Manager Dante Hall said.

Quoting a transphobic document simply does not square with those values. That Trump is holding valuable federal funding hostage at the expense of those values is cruel but unsurprising. 

The Monterey Planning Commission—and next, the City Council—are ready to hear from the community as to whether it’s worth $1.5 million in federal funds to codify bigoted language. I’d suggest that no amount of money is the right amount of money to throw our neighbors under the transphobic bus, and that every local jurisdiction should stand in both word and in deed against hate.