‘A twist of the knife’: trans Americans react to Trump’s executive order | LGBTQ+ rights

Rright after Donald Trump won the election, Max Kuzma went into action. As a trans man living just outside of Cleveland, Ohio, he knew he had to get his documentation in order. He considers himself lucky to have already legally changed his name, but rushed to make sure his passport and other documents reflected it. Like so many trans Americans, Kuzma worried that Trump would follow through on his promise to roll back LGBTQ+ rights and threaten trans healthcare and the overall safety of the queer community.

“I expected an attack,” Kuzma said. Still, seeing Trump sign an executive order rolling back the rights of trans and non-binary people felt like “a twist of the knife.”

During his inauguration speech, Trump said, “From today forward, it will be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two sexes, male and female.”

The administration’s order directs the federal government to ensure that passports and other documents reflect only two genders. (During Joe Biden’s presidency, the State Department released an “X” gender marker option for people who identify as non-binary, intersex, or gender nonconforming.) The executive order also prevents the use of taxpayer funds for gender-affirming health care services, and provides mandate that prisons be designated by sex assigned at birth, not gender identity — meaning trans women can be housed in male prisons.

To Kuzma, the order sounds like a dark first step in what he sees as the administration’s attempt to erase trans and non-binary identities from public life.

“As I kept reading each additional point of that executive order, I started to get more and more sick to my stomach,” he said.

Kuzma began his transition in 2019. He feels fortunate to have had a few years to live openly in his identity. But he worries about trans and non-binary youth coming of age in a hostile era. “I’ve had the opportunity to live through many great milestones,” he said. “I’ve been on testosterone and I’ve had my biggest surgery. There’s a sense of survivor’s guilt that I got through over time.”

Only 1.6 million people over the age of 13 identify as trans in the US, yet the community has faced relentless attacks from Republican politicians as part of a larger anti-LGBTQ+ culture war waged by Trump. Republicans spent nearly $215 million on anti-trans ads this election.

Some Democrats also have scapegoated trans youth when they did their postmortem as Kamala Harris’ election failure. Seth Moulton, a U.S. representative from Massachusetts, told the New York Times: “Democrats spend far too much time trying not to offend anyone instead of being brutally honest about the challenges many Americans face. I have two little girls, I don’t want them being run over on a playground by a male or former male athlete, but as a Democrat I must be afraid to say that.”

Despite their fears, trans and non-binary people remain defiant. Before the inauguration, the ACLU said it planned to take Trump to court “wherever we can” to fight anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. Chase Strangio, an attorney and director of the nonprofit’s LGBTQ & HIV Project, submitted on Instagram that the orders “do not and cannot change the (existing) laws” that protect LGBTQ+ rights.

Many trans and non-binary people are in the dark about how Trump’s executive order will affect their daily lives. Zaya Perysian, for example, is a trans woman living in Los Angeles. She has an appointment to renew her passport this week and is not sure if she will be able to use the correct gender marker. “I’m very concerned about it,” she said. “Yesterday I felt like the world was ending. But my mom reminded me that I’m still here, I still have the right to protest and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Hunter Gromala, a non-binary 28-year-old who lives in Kansas, didn’t watch the dedication or follow too closely on social media. “Apparently I don’t deserve their time, energy or empathy, so I wasn’t going to give them any of mine,” Gromala said. “But I know my community has had a hard time with this, so I was trying to share information and remind people that just because it’s happening, it doesn’t mean that queer people are going to disappear instantly.”

Trump’s first term saw significant LGBTQ+ opposition. But much of the post-election news cycle this time describes a general weariness, with some people saying they are too tired or exhausted to protest again. (Not to mention Trump picked up more supporters in 2024 and won the popular vote for the first time.)

Trans and non-binary Americans also report tuning out at times, but many note that resistance still kicks in. “Silence right now is not an option,” Gromala said. “I know it’s really easy to get upset and isolate yourself because it feels like everyone is against you, but now you have to do the exact opposite. Transgender people, queer people and minorities have survived centuries, and the way we did it was with each other.”

As executive director of the Eastern PA Trans Equity Project, Corinne Goodwin spent most of Inauguration Day working the phone lines, talking to concerned trans people and their family members about their rights.

“I just spoke to a mother who was in tears because she’s afraid for her transgender child’s mental health,” Goodwin said.

“We did a post on social media about someone getting their legal name changed and overnight I woke up to over 100 people sending horrible responses. I imagine that will continue for a while time,” she added.

Javanah J Davis directs Wave Women Inc, a non-profit support for underserved bipoc trans and gender nonconforming individuals based in Rochester, New York. She says the ordinance “makes life three times as difficult” for her community.

“But even in the face of policies designed to erase us, our resilience and community will endure,” Davis said. “Today is painful, but it’s also a reminder of how important it is to keep organizing, voting, celebrating our visibility.”

Goodwin often uses the same speech to comfort his community. “I often talk about how trans people are like sharks: If we don’t keep swimming, we die, so we have to move on,” she said. “Sometimes progress looks like leaps and bounds, and other times it looks like holding on by your fingernails..”