LOS ANGELES—The week after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election, Isla Lima changed her gender from male to male in an official document, as some LGBTQ people fear their rights will be curtailed. I submitted documents to change my name to female.
President Trump, who won the Nov. 5 vote and will take office on Monday, has announced his intention to strip some LGBTQ rights during his second term.
In December, President Trump issued an executive order to end “child sexual mutilation,” an apparent reference to gender-affirming care, and to “remove transgender people from the military and from elementary, middle, and high schools.” He said he would sign the .
President Trump wants the law to recognize a person’s gender as male or female only at birth. When it comes to transgender athletes, she told supporters, “We’re keeping men out of women’s sports.”
While the Biden administration promotes or protects LGBTQ rights at the federal level, several Republican-run states are cutting access to gender-affirming care.
Many transgender people say their gender dysphoria began at an early age. Feelings of mismatch between gender identity and the gender assigned at birth can be so strong that it can lead to depression, anxiety, and even suicide.
Following Trump’s victory, Lima, a 26-year-old transgender woman living in Los Angeles, decided to file court documents quickly to officially change her gender on her documents.
“It might be safe to cross state lines in California, but I don’t know what the safety net is for that. It definitely gives me peace of mind knowing I have my ID…and it’s not my choice.” “Your name and gender marker will be displayed,” she said.
“After President Trump, it was like, ‘Okay, this is a super emergency.'”
A survey of more than 1,500 people released in August by health and wellness platform FOLX found that 76% of transgender and non-binary people have taken or plan to take at least one protective measure. We have served over 50,000 LGBTQ people.
Respondents cited measures such as expediting gender-affirming care, including medical, surgical, and mental health services. Stock up on medicines. Update gender markers on documents. And bring forward your wedding plans.
Lima is interning at Project Q, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization, because he feels he can relate to the organization’s goal of providing gay youth with safe spaces and resources like haircuts. He said it was because he was there.
Madin Lopez, 38, founder and executive director of Project Q, said in an interview that her LGBTQ friends were rushing to formally adopt children they were already fostering.
In 2023, Project Q Associate Director Manny Muñoz, who identifies as non-binary, changed his gender index from male to X. President Joe Biden’s administration introduced that option at the federal level.
Munoz, 36, said the change was “a long time coming and I was really, really excited.” “And there’s also the fear of having that taken away from you, right?”
However, Lopez is also non-binary and has not legally changed her gender.
“I’m not yet at the point where we’re going to decide whether to change the law or not. I think a lot of that has to do with what happens next.”
culture war
Transgender and non-binary rights have become a major flash point in America’s culture wars.
The House passed a bill Tuesday that would essentially ban transgender girls and women from participating in school sports and withhold federal funding from schools that don’t comply.
“Republicans have promised to protect women’s sports, and under President Trump’s leadership, we will deliver on that promise,” said bill author Rep. Greg Steube.
Leading pediatric, endocrinology, and mental health organizations support gender-affirming care, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy, when appropriate, which saves the lives of many transgender youth. Some people claim that.
However, some conservatives characterize this treatment as dangerous and experimental, calling certain measures chemical castration or child abuse.
Trump’s press secretary, Caroline Levitt, said in a statement that Trump was elected on a promise to end discussion of gender and sexuality in the classroom and end taxpayer-funded transgender surgeries for inmates in federal prisons. He said he exercised.
“Obviously, the American people agree with President Trump, and that’s why they voted for President Trump,” she said.
According to 2024 YouGov survey data, 36% of Americans believe there is too much social acceptance of transgender people, and 34% say there is not enough.
One in three people say it is morally wrong to identify as a gender different from the one assigned at birth, 13% believe it is morally acceptable, and 41% answered that it was not a moral issue.
Electra Ida, 24, who manages front-line services at Project Q, faced harassment in Utah, which restricts the bathrooms transgender people can use, before moving to California.
After Trump won, “more people started contacting me and saying, ‘You can move over there,'” Aida said.
“Unfortunately, I think it’s just settled in people that it’s not going to get better anytime soon.”
