{"id":5137,"date":"2025-03-02T16:39:03","date_gmt":"2025-03-02T16:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/?p=5137"},"modified":"2025-03-02T16:42:35","modified_gmt":"2025-03-02T16:42:35","slug":"opinion-the-trump-administration-and-transgender-erasure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/?p=5137","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: The Trump Administration and Transgender Erasure\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>3 Minute, 31 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n

Reader\u2019s Discretion Advised:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This piece discusses sensitive and potentially controversial topics related to political policies, social issues, and marginalized communities. Reader discretion is advised.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Inauguration Day, US President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order targeting transgender rights, asserting<\/a> that there are only two genders \u2014 male and female, \u2014 biological sex is determined at birth, and cannot be altered. For many transgender people in the U.S. and around the world, this action deepened their fear and threatened uncertainty.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US-based trans+ helpline, \u2018The Trevor Project,<\/em>\u2019 reported a 33% increase<\/a> in calls to its emergency crisis line on Inauguration Day. Anxiety is likely higher within the transgender community, as the percentage does not include the people who didn\u2019t feel safe, didn\u2019t have time, or have the resources to make such a phone call.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Individuals legally registered to receive gender-reaffirming therapy within the transgender community comprise less than 1%<\/a> of the total US population. While this number is relatively small in the broader context, this statistic does not account for trans+ individuals who aren\u2019t publicly out and are not accessing medical care.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s Executive Order, along with his long-standing stance on trans+ rights, appears to be a direct attack on the trans+ community. Following drastic reductions<\/a> in mental health support funding under his administration, the impact on the trans+ community will only worsen. Among many other issues surrounding security, the US economy, and society, his immediate focus on\u00a0restricting gender expression<\/a> to \u2018male\u2019 and \u2018female\u2019 \u2014 coupled with the lack of public recognition of this as a hate crime \u2014 is deeply concerning. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hunter Schafer, a transgender actress, was recently issued<\/a> a male passport, despite having been previously listed as female and identifying as such her whole life. Prior to Trump\u2019s second inauguration, US citizens could request for an \u2018X\u2019 as a gender designation on their passport. Under the new administration, this is no longer possible. As a result, many trans+ people who have legally changed their gender on their medical records will, once again, be forcefully misgendered.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schafer expressed her disappointment and anger with Trump\u2019s new policies via TikTok,<\/a> sharing her fears of facing potential difficulties and additional questioning over her gender identity while traveling. \u201cI will always be a trans woman. We will never stop existing,\u201d Schafer stated.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While hostility toward trans+ individuals existed before to Trump\u2019s return to power, the passage of the Executive Order fostered a toxic and unsafe environment for both members and allies of the trans+ community.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is a key figure in Trump\u2019s government, spurring controversy over his open embrace of far-right ideology and public disownment his transgender daughter, Vivian Wilson. According to the billionaire, Wilson was \u201ctricked<\/a>\u201d into consenting to trans-related medical care for her when she was 16.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, Wilson accused<\/a> her father of actively misgendering her and subjecting her to cruel treatment since childhood. Furthermore, Musk\u2019s prejudice intensified after Wilson began dressing femininely and came out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. She claimed<\/a> in a public interview that Musk was an absent father throughout her life and expressed her intent to sever all connections with him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given the billionaire\u2019s close ties with Trump\u2019s electoral campaign, his financial support, and his public endorsement<\/a> of German far-right party, Alternative f\u00fcr Deutschland<\/em> (AfD) in the Germany\u2019s February general elections, Musk\u2019s growing political impact<\/a> is alarming. It is disheartening to see those wielding immense socio-political and economic power holding discriminatory values against their own children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social norms aside, Trump\u2019s Executive Order recognising only two genders is biologically inaccurate. In rebuttal to this rhetoric, Dr. Eve Feinberg<\/a> from Northwestern University compared it to the claim that there are only two types of cancer. Given this, the dangers posed by Trump\u2019s cabinet to several marginalized communities, including the trans+ community, the broader LGBTQ+ community, and Black and minority ethnic groups, will only continue if left unchallenged by the opposition, or even from within the party.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edited by Zhanserik Temirtashev\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Image: \u201cpeople walking on road<\/a>\u201d by Delia Giandeini, 2019 via Unsplash  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n \n
\n \n \"Happy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Happy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sad\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sad <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Excited\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Excited <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sleepy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sleepy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Angry\"\n <\/a>\n
Angry<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Surprise\"\n <\/a>\n
Surprise<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reader\u2019s Discretion Advised:  This piece discusses sensitive and potentially controversial topics related to political policies, social issues, and marginalized communities. Reader discretion is <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":5138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,228,12,30,414],"tags":[108,192,436,218],"class_list":["post-5137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gender-2","category-justice","category-latest","category-politics","category-us-politics","tag-gender","tag-opinion","tag-trump","tag-us-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}