100 days into the Trump administration, and things have already gone from bad to worse. ICE raids, health department scandals and completely unnecessary trade wars; while the news is focused on Trump’s more noticeable corruption, something very important is going under the radar for most—conditions for transgender people in the US are falling apart at the seams.
On the federal level, Trump has shown a disgusting bias towards trans people, militantly referring to trans women as men and touting that he will “end Left Wing Gender Insanity” on his campaign website. In interviews, he has made a showpiece of them, describing trans athletes as “invaders”, and saying that allowing a trans kid to use a different name and pronouns at school without their potentially unaccepting parent’s consent was “child abuse”.
It isn’t idle talk. Among other executive orders, he signed “PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM CHEMICAL AND SURGICAL MUTILATION” his first day in office. “PROTECTING” focuses on trying to ban gender affirming care (GAC) for everyone under 19, not 18 as the name would suggest. Access to GAC has been linked to massively lessened suicide risk according to a study by the Trevor Project. If the lawsuit trying to stop the order fails, we are going to see a massive spike in children killing themselves.
On the state level, things are just as dire. Just this year, 5 months in, over 830 state-level bills have been introduced attacking the transgender community. While only a small portion have passed so far, this marks the most anti-trans bills introduced in a single year in the history of the US. For reference, between 2015 and 2022, a total of 589 both state and federal bills were introduced that attacked the trans community, an average of 74 bills a year. From 2023 to 2025, that average is at 903 state and federal bills, and we aren’t even halfway through 2025.
The rate at which these bills are being introduced is already horrifying, but what’s in the bills is only going to get worse. Alabama’s HB244 (aiming to ban all discussion of gender identity in grades K-12) is being discussed as of this article’s writing, and Iowa’s SF418 was passed into law, stripping protections from trans people under the state’s civil rights bill.
Thankfully, not all bills are passing, at least for now. Texas’ HB3817, making identifying as trans to the government or your employer a felony, and Arkansas’ HB1668, making anyone who aids a minor’s social transition (even by calling your friend by a nickname) liable to be sued, were both killed—but, as the right pushes them more, those sorts of bills will be accepted as normal.
What is “extreme” and what is “normal” in politics isn’t fixed. It’s all relative. Florida-style book bans were unthinkable 10 years ago, but now there are similar policies across the country. People can become comfortable with anything, and when that happens, their tolerance for extreme bills will rise, and so more extreme bills will be introduced and possibly passed. Even here in Maryland, a Democrat-dominated state, HB1399 has been introduced, proposing life sentences for doctors who provide GAC to children. This fundamental shift in acceptable politics from left to right is just going to keep going until something stops it.
In fact, we can watch the shift in real time—after “PROTECTING”, the Mississippi supreme court ruled that an 18 year old trans man isn’t old enough to change his name, and that he needs to wait until he’s 21. In Mississippi, minors are allowed to change their name with the consent of both of their parents, which the man had—but despite this, the supreme court denied the name change, explicitly stating that he wasn’t mature enough to understand the ramifications of transitioning. Keep in mind, this is a state that allows children as young as fifteen to get married with parental consent. Parental rights are a massive, massive deal for the Right. If they’re willing to trample over even that to attack trans people, then what’s next? Where do they draw the line? Is there even a line in the first place?
Nope.
The Right’s motive isn’t rationality, or logic, or fairness in sports, or anything like that. It’s just hate. They wouldn’t be trying to pass bills that criminalize simply existing while openly trans like HB3817 if there really was a way to be trans they see as acceptable. There is no point before the full elimination of all transgender people where they will be satisfied, and right now, all the old brakes that are meant to keep them in check are falling apart. Rep. Nancy Mace said “tr*nny, tr*nny, tr*nny” in a house hearing and went unpunished, Musk heiled Hitler to thunderous applause at the inauguration, and Trump is openly pondering a third term in between calling trans women inherent predators. We are sliding into full blown fascism as a country, and if we go any further down this path, the US is going to become unlivable for transgender people.
Don’t stand by, don’t think that it can’t happen here, and please, don’t look away. If you’re trans, DON’T GIVE UP! Prepare a bug-out bag, stock up on your meds, and make plans to leave the country at the drop of a hat.
Bad things are coming. Don’t pretend everything is fine, but don’t lose hope. We can all get through this if we’re ready.
