Transgender rights advocates say the election of Trump and his allies represents a major setback

By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer

Election victories for Donald Trump and other candidates whose campaigns humiliated transgender people reinforced widespread opposition to trans rights. For America LGBTQ rights movement, it amounts to one of the most sustained setbacks in its history.

For transgender Americans, it’s personal: There’s a palpable fear of potential Trump administration steps to further marginalize them. But there is also a spirit of resilience – a determination to persevere in the search for acceptance and understanding.

“I just went through an election where I couldn’t watch a sporting event on TV without seeing a commercial portraying transgender people as monsters,” says Jennifer Finney Boylan, a transgender author who teaches at Barnard College in New York.

“This hurts more than any other moment I can remember. We’ve been knocked down before. We will be struck down again. All we can do is fight.”

Anti-transgender momentum has been growing for several years, with Republican-ruled states passing dozens of laws restricting transgender people’s options for medical care, sports participation and access to public restrooms.

Activists fear the movement will grow as the Trump administration takes power as many Americans question the trans rights agenda. Overall, 55% of voters — and 85% of Trump supporters — believe support for transgender rights in government and society has gone too far, the report said. AP VoteCasta survey among more than 120,000 people who voted nationally.

“There is an urgent need to show the American people the reality of transgender lives — the everyday people for whom being trans is not the center of their lives,” said Shannon Minter, a transgender civil rights attorney at the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

“This is a frightening moment for transgender people and their families. There is a very real possibility that the new administration will adopt policies that will cause devastating damage.”

Trump and others have threatened to roll back several trans rights

Trump won the presidential race over Vice President Kamala Harris after a campaign that included: pervasive TV advertising mocking her support for trans rights. “Kamala is for they/them,” an ad that aired more than 15,000 times claimed. “President Trump is for you.” Other Democratic candidates were also the target of anti-trans ads.

On a range of issues, Trump — and other Republicans who now hold majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate — have threatened to roll back protections and civil liberties for transgender people.

Education: Trump has promised to impose far-reaching restrictions transgender students. His government could move quickly to exclude them Title IX Protectionsthat influence school policies regarding student use of preferred pronouns, restrooms, and locker rooms.

Healthcare: At least 26 states have adopted the proposal laws that restrict or prohibit gender-affirming medical care for trans minors. In Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton is filing civil lawsuits against doctors who, according to him, prescribed such treatments. Trump says any doctor or hospital that provides gender-affirming care should be excluded from Medicaid and Medicare.

Sport: Trump and other Republicans embraced the anti-trans mantra against “boys in girls sports.” At least 24 states already have laws banning trans women and girls from participating in certain women’s or girls’ sports competitions. In March, 16 college athletes applied lawsuit against the NCAAaccusing the company of violating their Title IX rights by allowing transgender woman Lia Thomas to compete in the 2022 national championships, where she won the 500-meter freestyle.

Military: Trans rights activists are concerned about this Trump could reinstate a ban on transgender people serve openly in the military, or – alternatively – ban any future recruitment of transgender people and limit the availability of gender-affirming medical care for service members and veterans.

Supporters say they are angry and worried

Trans rights organizations are calling for coalition building and renewed efforts to increase public understanding. They celebrated some notable victories. Sarah McBride won Delaware’s only seat in the House of Representatives, becoming the first openly transgender person elected to Congress. In Montana, transgender state Representative Zooey Zephyr won re-election and will be able to return to the House of Representatives almost two years after she was silenced and punished by her Republican colleagues.

But nationally, anger and fear were dominant emotions among trans activists.

“This election season has been brutal,” say its leaders Advocates for transgender equality wrote to their supporters. “Trump has targeted transgender people since the launch of his campaign. He focused on our existence. He focused on our rights. He promised he would continue to target transgender people if he won – and we know he will keep his promise.”

Shelby Chestnut, executive director of the Transgender Law Center, said transgender people “have become pawns for political groups that do not understand our communities.”

“It’s a very precarious time,” Chestnut said. “We will get through this, but we have to go a step further and support each other. … How do we see the long game, and not just the immediate limited perspective, because it’s very intimidating right now. Where do we want to be in fifteen years?”

Public opinion on trans rights issues is not uniform. According to AP VoteCast, just over half of voters in the 2024 election were strongly or somewhat opposed to laws banning gender-affirming medical treatments, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy, for minors. Just under half of voters were somewhat or strongly in favor of it.

And according to a Gallup poll last year, 69% of Americans believe transgender athletes should only compete on sports teams that match their birth gender.

A history of struggle

Over the past 25 years, perhaps the most terrifying phase of the LGBTQ rights movement began in 2004, after Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage. Between 2004 and 2008, voters in 26 states passed ballot measures defining marriage between one man and one woman, effectively banning same-sex marriage.

However, in 2012, public opinion turned in favor of same-sex marriage. The Supreme Court legalized it nationwide in 2015and it has since gained the support of most Americans.

Boylan recalled how that long, bitter debate turned in favor of legalization when gay marriage advocates popularized the phrase “Love is love.”

“That opened doors and hearts,” Boylan said. “The challenge for transgender people is that we don’t have such a sense… the issues are more complex.”