Trans people in the United States had been bracing themselves for what was to come since the election of Donald Trump. He won in November with campaign commercials such as ‘Kamala is for them/them, President Trump is for you’. He promised to “ban transgenderism from our schools and ban men from women’s sports.” The Republican majority used the election of a Democratic trans woman in the House of Representatives to introduce supervision of toilet use before she was sworn in.
“We knew trouble was coming,” says Rachel Crandall Crocker, 65, a trans activist from Michigan, on the phone. “Trump is now even going so far as to try to erase our identity. He denies our entire existence. It sets us back years in the struggle for recognition and against discrimination.”
In Trump’s litany of decrees that he issued immediately after his inauguration on Monday, he ordered that option X, for non-binary people, disappear from American passports. Additionally, federal government documents must only reflect citizens’ birth gender: M (male) and F (female). “These genders are immutable and grounded in fundamental and irrefutable reality,” Trump’s decree said.
‘Renew your passport now’
It is still unclear whether people who have already legally changed their gender will be ‘reverted’ to the gender they were assigned at birth when they renew their passport. On online forums, trans men and women advise each other to renew their passports now, before the measure can come into effect, in the hope that society will legally recognize them again in ten years. Trump’s plans against ‘gender ideology’ will certainly be challenged legally.
US states decide how gender can be displayed on driver’s licenses. It is unknown how many non-binary citizens have opted for an X in their passport since it became possible in 2022. The University of California calculated that about 16,700 people needed this option. Many times more Americans are transgender: 1.6 million (0.6 percent of the population), research shows.
The hatred on social media has grown stronger
Crandall has now been going through life as Rachel for 27 years and has seen her rights and dignity increase significantly in recent years, she says. She remembers what it was like when she was already living as a woman but there was still an M on her driver’s license. “It always causes hassle at airports if you don’t look like the letter on your ID suggests. I was once not allowed to go to the women’s toilet in a bar because I could not identify myself as a woman.” She fears returning to that situation.
Crandall assumes that Trump is not finished erasing trans people with this decree. In the decree he orders prisons to lock trans women with men from now on. They are also not allowed to receive medical treatment, such as hormones that they must continue to take after their transition. “What’s next? Does he take out insurance for everyone that covers trans care?” says Crandall.
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Gender identity, especially of children, has increased in recent years hot topicnot just on the right. Various polls have shown that Americans think so trans rights – and activists – have gone too far. They are divided about treating childrenfor example by delaying their puberty. In many countries there is discussion about whether such treatments are initiated too easily and too quickly. At the same time one finds large majority of the population that trans women and men should be protected against discrimination.
Girls sports
Last week, the House passed a bill that would ban young people born with male sex characteristics from participating in girls’ sports in schools. A measure that almost 80 percent of Americans supports, according to a poll by The New York Times.
Two Democrats agreed with the Republican plan. Since the lost elections, there has been a lot of discussion in the Democratic Party about whether they are listening too much to activists who serve minority interests and not listening enough to the concerns of average Americans.
Trump presents his anti-trans measures as necessary to protect women in society. His decree is entitled “Defending women against gender ideology extremism and restoring biological truth within the federal government.” It is unclear how and against what removing an X from passports protects women.
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According to Crandall, the backlash against the acquired rights and acceptance is greater than just among the Republicans who are now back in charge in Washington. The pendulum that for years swung towards more rights and acceptance in society is once again swinging in the opposite direction. “You see it everywhere. The hatred on social media is stronger. Visibility in popular culture is decreasing. The election of Trump strengthens that movement.”
She cites the example of the cartoon series ‘Win or Lose‘ which will be released in February. That series about a mixed school softball team originally featured a trans child. Shortly after Trump’s election, Disney announced that this character had been removed because “we recognize that many parents prefer to discuss some topics on their own terms and at their own time.” said a spokesperson. “We are being erased,” says Crandall.