What's going on

I’m tired.

We’re barely a month into the second Trump administration. When he won, I felt an urgent need to get out of my deep red state before he took office for the safety of myself and my family. When that wasn’t going to happen, I tried to find comfort by telling myself things wouldn’t happen Day One. There would be time - years even, maybe - before the worst came to pass!

Here’s what happened on Day One.

The “tl;dr” is on his first day in office, amongst many other things, Trump took steps to erase legal and social recognition of transgender people from the US government. Anecdotally, the most immediate impact I’ve seen within the trans community is the now inability to update our passports and other Federal documents to recognize our true gender. In some cases, documents have been received with the incorrect gender marker while in others documents have been seized and not returned, as seen here. 

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Soon after, Trump banned transgender people from serving in the military while implying that transgender people are dishonorable, untruthful, and false which takes the anti-trans rhetoric to a level beyond “scientific debate” to personal dehumanization. This was immediately followed by an attempt to ban gender affirming care for trans children; a declaration by the head new head of the EEOC to prioritize a trans bathroom ban in private business; transgender people being erased from the US State Department travel website, the Stonewall National Monument website, and even from private LGTBQ+ health care providers.

It is just… a lot in a short span of time. Most of this has been challenged in the courts and most direct impacts have so far been (in my very personal and anecdotal experience) hypothetical. But many people have been impacted and just knowing how focused very powerful people are on de-legitimizing my, and people like me, existence entirely and knowing from history where that leads is scary, to say the least, and very tiring.

And this is just the transgender experience! I’m terrified of what they’re doing (or trying to do?) in Guantanamo Bay and Panama. I am heartbroken about our betrayal of the people of Ukraine. I’ve been furious at what’s been happening to the Palestinian people, but that’s grown even further with the barefaced promise of full on genocide by Trump. I am flabbergasted and dismayed at the threats made by Trump towards Canada and Greenland. There’s probably more that I’m not thinking of right now.

It is very overwhelming for people who pay attention and care about other people, especially if you’re part of the groups being targeted. This is the goal. They want to overwhelm us. They want us to get tired and defeated and feel like they’ve won before they’ve even done anything. But they haven’t won. This is just the beginning. Each of this EOs are being challenged and some folks and groups are rightfully choosing not to comply in advance.

I’ve said before: I want to do what I can. This newsletter is part of it. Probably if you’re reading this its because you know me and want to support me in some way and I appreciate it. If that’s you, please share this with anyone who doesn’t know what’s going on - who doesn’t pay attention or is trying to ignore it. Talk to them about it. Make them aware of what is going on.

Also, it is easy to dehumanize people or groups of people that we are unfamiliar with. My ideal goal for this newsletter is to provide the voice of a person who happens to be trans and hopefully humanize us a bit for anyone who is unfamiliar. If you know someone who could benefit, send them here and let me know.