Forced Back into the Shadows: Transgender People in Trump's America

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After seeing United States President Donald Trump signing several executive orders that were meant to enforce the acceptance of only two genders in public life, Phoebe West, a transfeminine person living in Arizona, felt like she was going to die from hopelessness.

“I could not go a single day without seeing an executive order, where I was like, this is devastating. This sends us back a hundred and fifty years. This makes no sense. Why is he allowed to do this?”, she says.

Her astonishment is representative of how many transgender people in the US have been feeling, since Trump was elected president in November last year.

In his inauguration speech on January 20th, Trump announced that the US government would only recognize two gender identities, male and female. Until the start of Trump’s presidency, the official position of the US government had been more open to other gender identities, and it was possible for American citizens to receive a passport with the gender marker “X”, instead of “male” or “female”.

Meanwhile, Trump has issued several executive orders that are meant to enforce his binary gender policy across society. For instance, he has ordered a ban of trans people from the military, a ban of trans women from women’s sports, and cuts in federal funding for gender affirming surgeries for underage transgender people.

These political developments, in combination with widespread anti-trans rhetoric in politics and society, are cause for significant worry and anxiety in the transgender community.

“There is more openness to not being open”

“When I started to find my identity a couple of years ago, it felt like it was a time when things were starting to get better,” says Phoebe. “It really did feel like people as a whole were becoming more accepting. But since the last elections happened, I have started to fear some sort of shift.”

Miles Beach, a trans non-binary person from Ohio, agrees that a shift is taking place in society, and that transgender people are targeted more explicitly now.

“I don’t think the acceptance of transgender people is changing in society per se, but the people who don’t accept it are now less afraid to say they don’t accept it,” he explains. “There is more openness to not being open.”  

Politics of exclusion

The discrimination against trans people by the Trump administration is explicit and intentional; it does not recognize individuals whose gender identity differs from the biological sex they were born with. Additionally, many transgender people are noticing increasing hostility towards their community in society, fueled by the discriminatory government rhetoric.

“Yeah, I’m very afraid,” says Jack Kerr, a transgender man who lives in Arizona. “You can still say nasty things about trans people and get away with it. They’re just doing the same thing that they have always done. Just find someone to other, and right now, it’s trans people.”

“A lot of Trump’s proposals are just ways to make life harder for trans people,” Jack adds. “For me personally, the day-to-day fear comes from what is our government going to do next?”

“And it’s just like, why me? Out of all people?”

In addition, some trans people experience that they are being made a scapegoat in society, and blamed for societal problems they do not even recognize, such as the spread of a “woke ideology”.

“It’s like we are the ones who are corrupting the young with our trans agenda or something,” says Fauna Pilcher, a transgender woman living in the New England region. “And it’s just like, why me? Out of all people? It just feels completely out of left field.”  

Concerns over physical safety

The increasing hostility towards trans people also increases concerns over physical safety in the transgender community.

“I feel very unsafe in my daily life,” says Miles. “There is always a risk that people will physically intimidate you, or use violence against you.”

“The news is all about the danger out there, all these people who just actively hate trans people for existing,” says Jack. “I know people who have died to hate crimes. I know people who have been denied lifesaving medication, because they’re trans. I know people who have been homeless, because they’re trans. It’s dangerous, if people find out.”

These concerns are based in reality. Between November 2023 and November 2024, at least 36 transgender and gender-expansive people were killed in the US, according to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. Additionally, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported 542 hate crimes against transgender and gender expansive people in 2023, which makes up 4% of all hate crimes that year. There are fears that these numbers will increase, in light of Trump’s anti-trans rhetoric, throughout his campaign and during his presidency.

“I never felt physically safe”

Dean*, a transgender man from Arizona, says that it was never uncommon for trans people to be physically intimidated and to experience violence because of their gender identity. However, he is convinced that the risk of physical violence has increased, as some people feel more entitled to be hostile to trans people under the current government.

“I never felt physically safe,” he says. “It’s a line you still have to walk very carefully of whether you want to be physically safe, or whether you want to essentially be yourself, and be happy in life.”

The future is uncertain for many people who do not identify with the sex they were born with. Many transgender people express the fear that they will be limited in their ability to be themselves, and to participate fully in society. However, they also expressed their hopes for a brighter future in which everyone can be accepted just the way they are.

Jack sighs when he says: “We’re just people, man. We just want to exist.”

*Dean’s full name is known to the reporter.