Sign up for The Agenda — Them's news and politics newsletter, delivered to your inbox every Thursday.
In what is likely to be remembered as one of the darkest days in U.S. history, a twice-impeached former president who is an accused rapist and convicted felon has once again been elected to the White House.
Donald Trump overtook Vice President Kamala Harris early Wednesday morning in an election defined by the Republican candidates’ anti-trans, anti-immigrant messaging. Trump won the key battleground states of North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin after weeks of polls showed Trump and Harris in a dead heat.
Trump was likely to declare victory even if he lost, but his win will permit him to pursue what is poised to be one of the most extreme presidential agendas in the history of the country. The damage of yet another Trump presidency stands to be especially acute for LGBTQ+ Americans, with his campaign platform promising an all-out assault on queer rights. On his 2024 website, he vowed to pass a federal ban on gender-affirming care for minors and to redefine gender at the federal level so that male and female (as assigned at birth) are the only recognized genders. Trump’s platform also urged the adoption of national “Don’t Say Gay” policies targeting LGBTQ+ students in schools and promises to “keep men out of women’s sports.” As a senator, his running mate, J.D. Vance, introduced a bill threatening to jail doctors who treat trans youth patients.
Those policies would be an extension of Trump’s first four years in office, which saw a relentless onslaught of attacks against the LGBTQ+ community. Among the more prominent were banning out trans people from serving in the military, erasing mentions of LGBTQ+ people from federal websites, rescinding protections for trans students in schools, and opposing workplace protections for LGBTQ+ employees. His administration also banned people with HIV from military deployment, disbanded the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, and slashed global funding for HIV prevention and treatment.
LGBTQ+ Americans were already faced with an onslaught of anti-LGBTQ+ messaging during his 2024 campaign. Trump ran in vocal and staunch opposition to trans rights, with right-wing groups reportedly spending tens of millions on advertisements branding the trans community as a threat to public safety and decency. Among the most widely circulated ads of the election cycle was a commercial proclaiming: “Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.” During his first and only debate against Harris, Trump infamously said that she supports “transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison,” which LGBTQ+ advocates later clarified refers to providing medically necessary care to people in custody as required by federal law. He also claimed that Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz, is “very heavy into transgender.”
As advocates have repeatedly said, the impact of Trump returning to the White House will be felt across vulnerable marginalized groups, however. He has repeatedly waffled on the question of whether he supports national restrictions on abortion and contraception following the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, but Vance has stated unequivocally that he “would like abortion to be illegal nationally.” Trump has suggested that schools that teach the history and legacy of slavery could be defunded. He has repeatedly called to disband the Department of Education and intends to expel countless thousands of undocumented workers from the U.S. via a mass deportation program that would reportedly cost the federal government millions per year. His allies, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, have also suggested yet another attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, which could eliminate critical healthcare protections for seniors, pregnant patients, and people with disabilities, as well as LGBTQ+ people.
Although it will be months before a second Trump administration takes shape, the public already knows a great deal about how he plans to govern. During his volatile presidential campaign, he vowed to be a dictator on “day one” and claimed that his first acts would include dismissing Jack Smith, the special prosecutor who is pursuing numerous criminal cases against him. Within just the past few weeks, he has suggested using the National Guard to target American citizens and fantasized about journalists being shot, while repeatedly referring to those who disagree with his fascistic views as the “enemy from within.” Trump has reportedly promised key roles in his administration to Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., an avowed conspiracy theorist who has called to ban vaccines and defluoridate public drinking water.
Some LGBTQ+ U.S. residents have reportedly already fled the country in fear of the impact of a second Trump term, particularly families of trans youth, but others impacted by these policies will not have the privilege to leave. As during his previous presidency, LGBTQ+ advocates are certain to fight his policies in the courts, the legislature, and through acts of public protest.
Get the best of what’s queer. Sign up for Them’s weekly newsletter here.
