The Golden Trident

By Jax Mckinnon

Photos courtesy of Alisdare Hickson, SWinksy, Matt Hrkac, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic and 4.0 International licenses

Donald Trump’s term is threatening to all Americans if you’re not an upperclass white man. His entire campaign has been run on hatred and spite, with no real principles, and no real plan. Even before his inauguration, he announced he will be appointing multiple people into government roles who are barely qualified for the position they’re about to take on, if at all. Trump’s policies attack groups of all forms including immigrants, Queer people, and women. The strategy of our loving government is to slowly chip away at people’s rights, until there are none left to take. 

People often seem to be apathetic towards the degradation of things that don’t immediately affect them, which allows for the breakdown of everyone’s rights before our very eyes. This allows laws to be made with minimal resistance from the majority until it is too late. 

But these stabs will slowly turn into a strafe of loss for everyone. Through the decomposition of the modern politician, Americans have become foreign to any form of resistance. It has forced us into tunnel vision specific to our issues, until we are the ones in a direct line of fire. After just a few days in office, Trump has signed more than 200 executive orders that directly target and endanger millions of people. It is time to distance yourself from the government and become strong as a community.

 The fact that Trump won the 2024 election is baffling to a lot of people. However, it is an unwavering reflection of the state the Democratic Party has left voters in. One of their many faults during this election was their pathetic attempt at appealing to Republicans by upholding the policies of the right – policies that many of the American people needed a firm opposition on, such as abortion and trans rights. In October of 2024, Kamala Harris was asked in an interview by reporter, Hallie Jackson, if  “Transgender Americans should have access to gender affirming care.” Harris responded with, “I believe we should follow the law,” a vague response that left many Queer people feeling uneasy about their future in this country, regardless of the outcome of the election. 

During Trump’s last term, he appointed three Supreme Court justices, largely shifting the court in a conservative direction. We’ve seen the consequences of this in the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 under Joe Biden’s presidency. Trump may have the opportunity to appoint even more justices, as Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito are likely to retire during his term. 

Even under Joe Biden, trans rights were still being attacked despite Biden’s pro-LGBTQ stance throughout his campaign. In December of 2024, Biden signed a defense bill, titled the FY25 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Section 708 of the NDAA says it would “prohibit insurance coverage for ‘medical interventions for the treatment of gender dysphoria,’” according to the ACLU. According to NBC, this section effectively bans Tricare from covering “medical treatment for military dependents under the age of 18 who are diagnosed with gender dysphoria.” This will be the first federal anti-LGBTQ bill signed into office since Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in September, 1996. The NDAA is a soft introduction to the hostile assault on queer and women’s rights we will face under Trump’s presidency. 

Trump is making it a point to eradicate trans and queer people under the pretense that he is protecting Americans from ‘gender ideology’ and the ‘woke’ left. He is simply trying to erase the existence of queer people, and make it difficult for them to thrive. A common form of gender affirming care is Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), which is a medical treatment that involves taking doses of hormones such as testosterone or estrogen to change secondary sex characteristics. 

This treatment allows trans youth and adults to live their life with alleviated symptoms of gender dysphoria, a persistent feeling of distress or unease that occurs when a person’s biological sex doesn’t match their gender identity. Fear ridden language in the news and media frames HRT and gender affirming care as something that indoctrinates and ruins children. In reality, it is life saving medical care that is rigorously overseen by medical professionals. 

Preventing people from accessing this care puts them at risk for severe mental health conditions, and often hinders people from existing happily in their bodies. According to the National Institue of Health “Data indicate[s] that 82% of transgender individuals have considered killing themselves and 40% have attempted suicide, with suicidality highest among transgender youth.” A trans suicide hotline had an 800% increase in calls the day Trump was announced the winner of the 2024 presidential race, according to Kai Alvair Horton, the executive director of Trans Lifeline, in an interview with PBS. This data is symptomatic of the violence and discrimination trans Americans are facing every day, violence which will only get worse as Trump allows and encourages people to openly spread hateful rhetoric. 

As the looming threat of our medical care being stripped from us inches closer, trans Americans and other minorities are bracing for the worst, as these seemingly minor proclamations snowball into sinister consequences. 

So what exactly does this hateful man plan on doing to trans rights, and what are the repercussions of the government’s loathing for trans people? Trump’s election campaign ran on destruction of the LGBTQ community for seemingly no other reason than hatred. According to PBS news, Trump “made rolling back transgender rights a key issue in his campaign. He promised to limit access to gender-affirming care and to prevent trans athletes from participating in school sports.” Trump frames trans issues as evil ideologies that shouldn’t be embraced and acceptance as a form of indoctrination. Trump told his supporters at the Madison Square Garden rally, “We will get … transgender insanity the hell out of our schools, and we will keep men out of women’s sports.” On January 20th, Trump signed an executive order proclaiming there are only two genders, and required that the federal government use the term “sex” instead of “gender.” Individuals can no longer update their gender marker on their passport, and the X marker is gone altogether. Trump is ignoring the existence of intersex and trans people while simultaneously sneaking in fetal personhood (the idea that a fetus, embryo, or fertilized egg has the same legal rights as a born person) into the order. 

Concurrently making the road to reproductive rights longer and filled with even more potholes. He plans to put laws in place that would make it illegal for trans individuals to join the military, and has revoked a 60 year old executive order which will now enable discrimination on the basis of gender, race, sexual orientation, disability etc. in government workplaces and in private sectors. While not only ignorant and misinformed, these orders undo years of hard work from human rights organizations and individuals fighting for equality. If you are not afraid now, it is justified, but it is time to take action in face of fear.

According to the Trans Legislation Tracker, 669 anti-trans bills were drafted and considered in 2024, 48 already passed, and 84 are being considered at a federal level. The Attorney General of Tennessee, John Skrmetti, challenged Tennessee’s senate Bill HB1 passed in June of 2024 in the ongoing court case Skrmetti v. The U.S. This bill prohibits all medical treatments intended to allow “a minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s sex” or to treat gender dysphoria, Skrmetti challenged Tennessee, arguing that this bill violates the equal protections clause in the 14th Amendment.

 

Under this law, cisgender teens would be allowed to receive hormone therapy and puberty blockers, but an individual who identifies as something other than their assigned gender at birth, wouldn’t. Chief Justice John Roberts even suggested giving the government the authority to engage in discrimination in the medical context against trans youth, and potentially adults. This not only would disadvantage trans people, but also could have severe implications for cisgender women and many other groups of people who may be at risk for medical discrimination if exceptions are carved out of the constitution. 

Trump’s eager take down of anti-discrimination laws aren’t looking good for the security of the rest of our rights. Access to birth control and contraceptives may quickly become at risk as well if the Tennessee bill is upheld. 

The Supreme Court overturned a vital part of reproductive rights by repealing Roe v. Wade and allowing reproductive rights to go to the states. This caused people to have to leave the state for life saving health care, or be forced to carry a pregnancy to term. The ruling on Skrmetti will show how far the supreme court is willing to go, and how the next four years may look in terms of safety and security of LGBTQ rights. The court will most likely not make a decision until June of 2025, and unfortunately, we may not need to wait that long to witness the repercussions of electing corrupt billionaires into office. 

Until then, stockpile your medication, lean into your community, and participate in the incitement of change however you can. Whether this is boycotting, or holding signs on the side of the road, any act of resistance chips away at the ever lasting fight for our rights.