Christy Perez

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“Erasure is not neutral”: The inextricable link between LGBTQ+ rights & a functioning democracy

As the second Trump administration passes the one-year mark, LGBTQ+ people across the United States are living through a profound and destabilizing shift. What has unfolded over the past year is a deliberate reorientation of federal power away from civil rights and toward state-sanctioned exclusion. 

According to advocates at the Human Rights Campaign, this moment is best understood not as a collection of disconnected policy fights, but as a coordinated effort to roll back decades of progress.

“This administration has shown a glaring lack of care for human life,” Bentley Hudgins, Georgia State Director for the Human Rights Campaign, told LGBTQ Nation. “Anything that affirms the dignity of another human being is being undermined because human dignity and connection are the antithesis of authoritarianism.”

From the first week of the administration, that posture was made clear. President Trump immediately signed a barrage of anti-LGBTQ+ executive actions, including a reversal of federal nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people and the dismantling of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging initiatives across the federal government. 

According to prior estimates from the Williams Institute, nearly 14,000 transgender federal employees and more than 100,000 LGBTQ+ employees of federal contractors had previously benefited from these protections. Their removal created immediate uncertainty in workplaces where discrimination was already widely underreported.

Miriam, a 42-year-old lesbian federal contractor in Washington, D.C., says the shift has been immediate and chilling. “Before, there was at least a sense that HR had your back,” she said. “Now, I don’t know if reporting something would protect me, or paint a target on me.” 

Miriam noted that several LGBTQ+ coworkers have quietly removed pronounsfrom email signatures and stopped attending employee resource group meetings. “It feels like we’re shrinking again,” she added. “Like we’re back in a time we thought we had moved past, where to be safe we have to go invisible.” 

Compounding this retreat is the rollback of federal data collection on sexual orientation and gender identity. Changes to surveys and reporting practices mean fewer reliable statistics on LGBTQ+ populations, making it harder to document disparities in health care, housing, employment, and education. Advocates warn that when communities are not counted, their needs are easier to ignore.

One year into Trump’s second term, LGBTQ+ people face an unmistakable contraction of federal protection. Yet the movement for equality has adapted. In the absence of reliable federal leadership, communities are organizing locally, building people power, and linking LGBTQ+ liberation to the broader defense of democracy and human dignity.

This isn’t politics to us

transgender children, families, texas, trans kids, fee, GoFund Me, fundraisers
| Shutterstock

Hudgins emphasized that HRC does not attempt to rank harm because harm is experienced differently across communities. Instead, the organization tracks patterns.

“What we have seen is the executive branch using its power to try to prevent people from accessing healthcare, from participating in public life, from being safe at work or at school,” Hudgins said. “That includes federal workers, parents, children, doctors, and educators.”

Health care has emerged as one of the most consequential battlegrounds. HRC has filed litigation to protect access to gender-affirming care for federal workers after the administration moved to exclude coverage under federal health benefit programs. Federal agencies have also sought to reinterpret civil rights statutes in ways that weaken protections for transgender people in federally funded health programs, a shift documented by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

“When you say a trans person should not have access to healthcare because of who they are,” Hudgins explained, “you open the door to denying healthcare to anyone because of who they are.”

Elena, a mother of a 14-year-old transgender boy in Texas, says her family’s clinic has warned them that care may not continue. “They couldn’t give us answers, only ‘maybe’ and ‘We’ll see,’ Elena said. 

“How do you explain that to a kid who already feels like the world doesn’t want him?” She described watching her son’s mental health improve after beginning gender-affirming care, and the fear of what could happen if that care is interrupted. “This isn’t politics to us,” she said. “It’s my child’s health. It’s whether he feels safe in his own body.” Medical providers report delaying or limiting services out of fear of regulatory consequences, leaving families to travel long distances or turn to overburdened clinics.

Education policy has followed a similar trajectory. With weakened federal guidance, protections for LGBTQ+ students now vary drastically by state and district. Issues such as bathroom access, participation in school activities, and responses to bullying are increasingly left to local discretion. Internal directives within the Department of Education instructed staff to halt programs that supported transgender students.

Avery, a 17-year-old transgender student in Ohio, says the difference is palpable. “Before, I felt like the school had to take me seriously,” Avery explained. “Now, when kids make comments or use the wrong pronouns on purpose, it’s like administrators don’t know what they’re supposed to do – or they just don’t want to deal with it.” 

Avery described avoiding school bathrooms entirely, timing their day around when they can safely go at home. “It sounds small, but it controls your whole day,” they said. “You’re constantly thinking about where you’re allowed to exist.” 

Advocates warn that this uncertainty creates fertile ground for harassment and isolation, particularly as national rhetoric emboldens anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment.

Beyond health care and education, the administration has targeted LGBTQ+ people’s presence in public life. The reinstatement of the ban on transgender military service has placed thousands of service members in professional limbo. In early 2025, the administration issued an executive order barring transgender people from military service, and the U.S. Supreme Court allowed enforcementto proceed while legal challenges continue. Thousands of transgender service members now face halted medical care and potential discharge.

A warning sign for everyone

Protester holding white cardboard sign with handwritten message about freedom and oppression at outdoor demonstration. Sign reads "No One Is Free When Others Are Oppressed." Shows social justice activism and human rights advocacy message, ideal for illustrating protest movements, civil rights demonstrations, activism campaigns, and community organizing efforts.
| Shutterstock

At the same time, LGBTQ+ and HIV-related resources have quietly disappeared from federal websites, eliminating access to reliable public health information and sending a symbolic message about whose lives are valued.

“Erasure is not neutral,” Hudgins said. “When the government removes information about a community, it tells people that they do not exist or do not matter.”

Jamal, a 29-year-old gay man living with HIV in Georgia, noticed the changes immediately.

“It might seem symbolic, but symbols matter,” he said. “When the government removes information about you, it feels like they’re saying you don’t exist, or you don’t deserve help.” Jamal, who volunteers with an HIV outreach organization, worries that misinformation spreads when official resources disappear. “People start trusting rumors instead of facts,” he explained. “That can be dangerous.”

Crucially, Hudgins situates these actions within a broader political project. Rather than viewing attacks on LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, unhoused people, or disabled communities as separate agendas, HRC understands them as interconnected.

“This is not just about LGBTQ people,” Hudgins said. “We share human rights with everyone in this country.”

Scholars and organizers increasingly describe this moment as part of what Reverend Dr. William Barber II has termed the Third Reconstruction, a renewed struggle for racial, economic, and civil justice following the unfinished work of the Civil War and Civil Rights eras.

Despite the scale of the challenges, Hudgins stressed that the past year has also revealed resilience. HRC now counts over 3.6 million members and supportersnationwide. It has expanded rapid response efforts, pursued litigation, and invested heavily in state-level political organizing.

“Voters are rejecting the message that hating your neighbor makes your life better,” Hudgins said.

Rosa, a queer organizer in Arizona, describes a shift in strategy. “We’re no longer assuming federal protection will save us,” she said. “We’re building safety at the community level, know-your-rights training, mutual aid, and rapid response networks.” 

Rosa noted that younger activists are organizing with fewer illusions about political permanence. “They understand that rights can be taken away,” she said. “So they’re organizing like it matters, because it does.” Advocates are also urging politicians to change how they frame LGBTQ+ equality, connecting it to broader democratic values such as privacy, bodily autonomy, and freedom from government intrusion. “When LGBTQ+ rights are attacked,” Rosa added, “it’s a warning sign for everyone.”

For Hudgins, the lesson of the past year is clear.

“Visibility alone isn’t protection,” he said. “Laws matter. Community matters. And we can’t afford to be complacent.”

In short, the fight has changed. But it is far from over.

/ /

“Erasure is not neutral”: The inextricable link between LGBTQ+ rights & a functioning democracy

As the second Trump administration passes the one-year mark, LGBTQ+ people across the United States are living through a profound and destabilizing shift. What has unfolded over the past year is a deliberate reorientation of federal power away from civil rights and toward state-sanctioned exclusion. 

According to advocates at the Human Rights Campaign, this moment is best understood not as a collection of disconnected policy fights, but as a coordinated effort to roll back decades of progress.

“This administration has shown a glaring lack of care for human life,” Bentley Hudson, Georgia State Director for the Human Rights Campaign, told LGBTQ Nation. “Anything that affirms the dignity of another human being is being undermined because human dignity and connection are the antithesis of authoritarianism.”

From the first week of the administration, that posture was made clear. President Trump immediately signed a barrage of anti-LGBTQ+ executive actions, including a reversal of federal nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people and the dismantling of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging initiatives across the federal government. 

According to prior estimates from the Williams Institute, nearly 14,000 transgender federal employees and more than 100,000 LGBTQ+ employees of federal contractors had previously benefited from these protections. Their removal created immediate uncertainty in workplaces where discrimination was already widely underreported.

Miriam, a 42-year-old lesbian federal contractor in Washington, D.C., says the shift has been immediate and chilling. “Before, there was at least a sense that HR had your back,” she said. “Now, I don’t know if reporting something would protect me, or paint a target on me.” 

Miriam noted that several LGBTQ+ coworkers have quietly removed pronounsfrom email signatures and stopped attending employee resource group meetings. “It feels like we’re shrinking again,” she added. “Like we’re back in a time we thought we had moved past, where to be safe we have to go invisible.” 

Compounding this retreat is the rollback of federal data collection on sexual orientation and gender identity. Changes to surveys and reporting practices mean fewer reliable statistics on LGBTQ+ populations, making it harder to document disparities in health care, housing, employment, and education. Advocates warn that when communities are not counted, their needs are easier to ignore.

One year into Trump’s second term, LGBTQ+ people face an unmistakable contraction of federal protection. Yet the movement for equality has adapted. In the absence of reliable federal leadership, communities are organizing locally, building people power, and linking LGBTQ+ liberation to the broader defense of democracy and human dignity.

This isn’t politics to us

transgender children, families, texas, trans kids, fee, GoFund Me, fundraisers
| Shutterstock

Hudson emphasized that HRC does not attempt to rank harm because harm is experienced differently across communities. Instead, the organization tracks patterns.

“What we have seen is the executive branch using its power to try to prevent people from accessing healthcare, from participating in public life, from being safe at work or at school,” Hudson said. “That includes federal workers, parents, children, doctors, and educators.”

Health care has emerged as one of the most consequential battlegrounds. HRC has filed litigation to protect access to gender-affirming care for federal workers after the administration moved to exclude coverage under federal health benefit programs. Federal agencies have also sought to reinterpret civil rights statutes in ways that weaken protections for transgender people in federally funded health programs, a shift documented by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

“When you say a trans person should not have access to healthcare because of who they are,” Hudson explained, “you open the door to denying healthcare to anyone because of who they are.”

Elena, a mother of a 14-year-old transgender boy in Texas, says her family’s clinic has warned them that care may not continue. “They couldn’t give us answers, only ‘maybe’ and ‘We’ll see,’ Elena said. 

“How do you explain that to a kid who already feels like the world doesn’t want him?” She described watching her son’s mental health improve after beginning gender-affirming care, and the fear of what could happen if that care is interrupted. “This isn’t politics to us,” she said. “It’s my child’s health. It’s whether he feels safe in his own body.” Medical providers report delaying or limiting services out of fear of regulatory consequences, leaving families to travel long distances or turn to overburdened clinics.

Education policy has followed a similar trajectory. With weakened federal guidance, protections for LGBTQ+ students now vary drastically by state and district. Issues such as bathroom access, participation in school activities, and responses to bullying are increasingly left to local discretion. Internal directives within the Department of Education instructed staff to halt programs that supported transgender students.

Avery, a 17-year-old transgender student in Ohio, says the difference is palpable. “Before, I felt like the school had to take me seriously,” Avery explained. “Now, when kids make comments or use the wrong pronouns on purpose, it’s like administrators don’t know what they’re supposed to do – or they just don’t want to deal with it.” 

Avery described avoiding school bathrooms entirely, timing their day around when they can safely go at home. “It sounds small, but it controls your whole day,” they said. “You’re constantly thinking about where you’re allowed to exist.” 

Advocates warn that this uncertainty creates fertile ground for harassment and isolation, particularly as national rhetoric emboldens anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment.

Beyond health care and education, the administration has targeted LGBTQ+ people’s presence in public life. The reinstatement of the ban on transgender military service has placed thousands of service members in professional limbo. In early 2025, the administration issued an executive order barring transgender people from military service, and the U.S. Supreme Court allowed enforcementto proceed while legal challenges continue. Thousands of transgender service members now face halted medical care and potential discharge.

A warning sign for everyone

Protester holding white cardboard sign with handwritten message about freedom and oppression at outdoor demonstration. Sign reads "No One Is Free When Others Are Oppressed." Shows social justice activism and human rights advocacy message, ideal for illustrating protest movements, civil rights demonstrations, activism campaigns, and community organizing efforts.
| Shutterstock

At the same time, LGBTQ+ and HIV-related resources have quietly disappeared from federal websites, eliminating access to reliable public health information and sending a symbolic message about whose lives are valued.

“Erasure is not neutral,” Hudson said. “When the government removes information about a community, it tells people that they do not exist or do not matter.”

Jamal, a 29-year-old gay man living with HIV in Georgia, noticed the changes immediately.

“It might seem symbolic, but symbols matter,” he said. “When the government removes information about you, it feels like they’re saying you don’t exist, or you don’t deserve help.” Jamal, who volunteers with an HIV outreach organization, worries that misinformation spreads when official resources disappear. “People start trusting rumors instead of facts,” he explained. “That can be dangerous.”

Crucially, Hudson situates these actions within a broader political project. Rather than viewing attacks on LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, unhoused people, or disabled communities as separate agendas, HRC understands them as interconnected.

“This is not just about LGBTQ people,” Hudson said. “We share human rights with everyone in this country.”

Scholars and organizers increasingly describe this moment as part of what Reverend Dr. William Barber II has termed the Third Reconstruction, a renewed struggle for racial, economic, and civil justice following the unfinished work of the Civil War and Civil Rights eras.

Despite the scale of the challenges, Hudson stressed that the past year has also revealed resilience. HRC now counts over 3.6 million members and supportersnationwide. It has expanded rapid response efforts, pursued litigation, and invested heavily in state-level political organizing.

“Voters are rejecting the message that hating your neighbor makes your life better,” Hudson said.

Rosa, a queer organizer in Arizona, describes a shift in strategy. “We’re no longer assuming federal protection will save us,” she said. “We’re building safety at the community level, know-your-rights training, mutual aid, and rapid response networks.” 

Rosa noted that younger activists are organizing with fewer illusions about political permanence. “They understand that rights can be taken away,” she said. “So they’re organizing like it matters, because it does.” Advocates are also urging politicians to change how they frame LGBTQ+ equality, connecting it to broader democratic values such as privacy, bodily autonomy, and freedom from government intrusion. “When LGBTQ+ rights are attacked,” Rosa added, “it’s a warning sign for everyone.”

For Hudson, the lesson of the past year is clear.

“Visibility alone isn’t protection,” he said. “Laws matter. Community matters. And we can’t afford to be complacent.”

In short, the fight has changed. But it is far from over.

/ /

The media has yet to embrace the dignity & complexity of trans lives

Trailblazing transgender pageant contestant Bella Bautista recently withdrew from the Miss Georgia USA competition, saying that the organization’s values no longer aligned with her “personal values” and “mission for inclusivity and a world free from discrimination.” She said she could not share more details due to ongoing legal proceedings, but confirmed in Teen Vogue that her resignation was in part due to the head of the organization’s support for the president. 

Bautista, a 22-year-old former Miss Buckhead USA 2025, had recently made headlines for becoming the first openly trans contestant in the state’s pageant. “I wanted nothing more than to be the representation our community needs,” she said on Instagram, “especially in this moment. But more than that, I know how important it is to stand firm and speak up when something isn’t right. Too often, as transgender women, we walk into spaces and remain silent when we’re treated unfairly—out of fear, out of exhaustion, out of the hope that maybe things will change if we just endure. But I refuse to stay silent.”

Her experience underscores the pervasive misalignment between media platforms and authentic inclusivity. Media serves as both mirror and molder of public perception, so it’s not surprising that the current inclusion of transgender individuals in various forms of media remains fraught with challenges. 

Despite incremental progress, mainstream media often maddeningly oscillates between superficial representation and outright misrepresentation, perpetuating stereotypes that undermine the dignity and complexity of transgender lives.

“The media has immense power in shaping how the public sees trans people,” transgender Minnesota State Representative Leigh Finke told LGBTQ Nation. “When we are reduced to headlines, stereotypes, or political talking points, it strips us of our humanity. Fair and accurate representation isn’t just about visibility — it’s about ensuring that people see us as who we truly are: complex, full human beings deserving of dignity and respect.” 

Figures like Finke embody the transformative power of authentic representation. Elected in 2022 as the state’s first openly transgender lawmaker, Finke has been instrumental in advancing legislation that safeguards transgender rights. 

But Finke’s journey has not been devoid of adversity. She has faced personal attacks, including misgendering and derogatory remarks from colleagues. 

Finke said the media must come to terms with its duty to act responsibly and ethically. The disparity between the media’s portrayal of transgender individuals and the lived realities of people like Bautista and Finke calls for a recalibration of narratives. 

While there have been strides toward visibility, the quality of representation often falls short. Transgender stories are frequently sensationalized, reducing complex human experiences to mere headlines. This superficial engagement not only distorts public understanding but also inflicts tangible harm on the transgender community, reinforcing misconceptions and fueling discrimination. 

Media outlets must move beyond tokenistic representation and engage with transgender stories in a manner that is both respectful and nuanced. This entails providing platforms for transgender voices to narrate their own experiences, challenge harmful stereotypes, and hold institutions accountable for their roles in perpetuating inequality.

Trans people in media are so often reduced to caricatures, punchlines, or villains, to tragic figures who exist only for debate or spectacle. TV shows still trot out harmful tropes like the “deceptive trans woman” or the “mentally unstable trans person,” reinforcing the idea that we are something to be feared or pitied rather than understood. 

Even when news media tries to be “balanced,” it often frames our rights as a debate rather than a fundamental truth. All of this creates a climate where trans people are seen as burdens or problems to be solved rather than as human beings deserving dignity and respect.  

And yet, there are moments where folks get it right. When trans people are shown as whole, complex, joyful, flawed, and fully human, it changes everything. Documentaries that center our voices, rather than just talking about us, help reshape public perception. TV shows and movies that cast trans actors in trans roles give us agency over our own narratives. News outlets that hire trans journalists to report on trans issues ensure that our stories are told with accuracy and nuance. When representation is done right, it not only helps others see us as we truly are but also gives trans people, especially trans youth, the chance to see themselves reflected in a way that says: You exist, you matter, and you belong.

Transgender Day of Visibility serves as a poignant reminder of the strides made and the work yet to be done. It is an opportunity for members of media organizations to reflect on its influence and to commit to practices that not only increase visibility but do so in a way that affirms the humanity and diversity of transgender individuals. Only through such intentional efforts can media fulfill its potential as a catalyst for genuine understanding and societal progress.

“If we want to improve trans visibility in the media, we need to start by putting trans voices at the center of the conversation. That means mentoring, educating, and hiring trans politicians, academics, journalists, consultants, and storytellers,” Finke said. “It means supporting independent trans creators and holding major media outlets accountable for harmful narratives. Representation isn’t just about being seen—it’s about being heard in ways that are truthful and empowering. And for that, we will need all of us.”