President Donald J. Trump has been working since the beginning of his term to pull back the rights and protections of members of the LGBTQ+ community. Starting in his first presidency back in 2017, Trump began working to take away the protection of transgender students and workers in the US, and pulling back access to gender-affirming care.
When President Joe Biden entered office, he reversed many of Trump’s actions. Since Trump reentered office in January, he has once again restarted his campaigns working against the LGBTQ+ community.
“Mentions of ‘lesbian,’ ‘bisexual,’ ‘gay,’ ‘transgender,’ ‘sexual orientation,’ ‘gender identity,’ and related terms are no longer accessible on WhiteHouse.gov, and the search term ‘LGBTQ’ now brings up zero results on the site.” Other government agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and the Department of State, have removed LGBTQ+ specific pages from their websites. In his inaugural address, Trump stated, “As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female.” A blatant display of transphobia and trans erasure.
The Governor of Maine, Janet T. Mills, is at risk of losing all of Maine’s federal funding because, despite what Trump has said about transgender athletes, Governor Mills continues to stand up for her transgender athletes and fight for them.
Mr. Zawadski, AP Gov and Sports and American Culture teacher, and coach of the Morgan boys tennis team, takes his opinion on Trump’s polices from a sports angle. “They’re making a huge deal over transgender athletes and, to me, this is a waste of time of our government.” Zawadski points out how worrying about transgender athletes should not be such a concern, given that a very small minority of transgender people participate in sports. It is estimated that less than 1% of NCAA athletes are transgender. “If they (transgender men) are playing in the men’s division, no one comments, no one cares, but when it’s transgender women playing in the women’s division, then suddenly it’s an issue.” Zawadski believes this is a divisive issue, and one we hear a lot about, but it’s not impacting all of America, “yet it’s become this behemoth of an issue.”
The 988 suicide prevention service is one of the many companies that could be facing cuts because of Trump’s administration. This hotline is an easily accessible number for anyone struggling with their mental health. 7/10 people who call 988 say they got the help they needed. “Jen Basinger, in Cincinnati, Ohio, is in that group. Basinger says she has called and texted 988 ‘approximately 50 times.’ ‘I live with mental illness [and] 988 has kept me alive.’” After calling 988, pressing 3 will lead you to crisis counselors trained to work with LGBTQ+ youth. If the administration cuts down this service, hundreds of people in crisis won’t have access to the help that they need, help that could save their lives. Between July 2022 to the middle of March 2025, 14.5 million people have contacted the suicide crisis line, roughly 1.2 million of those have been deferred to the LGBTQ+ specialized service.
Donald Trump’s “Project 2025” is an initiative to reshape the federal government after Joe Biden’s presidency. Conservatives believe the way to “fix” America is to reverse all the laws and orders Joe Biden put in place throughout his presidency.
In section 3 of the policy, under the “Department of Health and Human Services” section, there is Goal #3 “Promoting Stable and Flourishing Married Families.” This goal is all about marriage and what makes a “proper” marriage in the US. “Families comprised of a married mother, father, and their children are the foundation of a well-ordered nation and healthy society.” This statement comes directly from the Project 2025 policy, ignoring LGBTQ+ relationships and other relationships that don’t fit into the social constructs in conservative minds.
Junior and self-described political enthusiast Aasiya Bajwa thinks the policies that Trump has enacted against the LGBTQ+ community are harmful, and the ones enacted against the Transgender community are especially harmful. “A lot of people don’t understand that the issue with transgender people is that their brains psychologically align with the gender they express themselves as. If there are certain laws and legislation that ban surgery and hormone therapy, it won’t take away the concept of transgender people.” By taking away safe access to surgeries and gender-affirming care, that will only lead to them finding other ways to feel more secure in their gender identity. “Especially in other countries, they will mutilate themselves or perform surgeries within the transgender communities by people who are not certified surgeons.” “That is something a lot of people don’t understand, banning something by law, doesn’t take away the concept of it.”
