Remember that time former president Donald Trump held up an LGBTQ+ Pride flag upside down and tried to convince queer people and allies he wasn’t a hateful bigot? Yeah, same. As reported by NBC News, Trump has gotten himself a blimp of the limelight by pledging to punish physicians who provide safe and age-appropriate gender-affirming health care to trans youth. In his video address (posted, of course, to Truth Social) he also promises to “promote positive education about the nuclear family” in public schools, which includes discussing the “roles of mother and fathers.”
In the four-minute-long video posted on Tuesday, Trump also barreled on and said if he’s re-elected, he’ll stop any federal agency from promoting the “concept” of transitioning at any age—including for adults. He went on to describe gender-affirming care as “child abuse” and “child sexual mutilation.”
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Now, Trump has been on an anti-trans binge for the last couple of years. Like many, many Republicans, he’s spouted off misinformation and debunked theories about trans folks in sports, specifically trans women participating in women’s sports. During a campaign rally in Texas in 2022, for example, Trump outright promised to ban trans women from women’s sports if he’s reelected. And back in 2017, he tried to ban trans folks from serving in the military.
In 2018, the Department of Health and Human Services weighed making the definition of gender based on biological sex as assigned at birth. The Trump administration also reversed Title IX protections in an attempt to keep trans youth out of the bathrooms and locker rooms that best align with their gender identities.
Overall, though, he’d been pretty quiet about trans youth.
And now? Trump promised to appeal to Congress to pass a law banning gender-affirming care for trans youth across the nation. He also pledged to stop physicians who provide gender-affirming care to youth from being able to access Medicare and Medicaid for patients.
Trump pulled full hysteria out and said he’d demand that the Justice Department investigate hospitals and pharmaceutical companies to see if they’re hiding “horrific long-term side effects” of such care. He added he wants to make sure patients who do receive gender-affirming care as minors can sue their physicians later.
In terms of education reform, Trump said he wants to mandate “severe consequences” for any public school staff who “suggest to a child that they could be trapped in the wrong body” and called “left-wing gender insanity” an “act of child abuse.” This could extend to schools losing federal funds and facing civil penalties.
What do we know for sure? Research shows trans youth report better mental health when they’re met with acceptance and affirmation. Research also shows that trans youth are more likely to face abuse and harassment at school, cyberbullying, becoming homeless, and leaving high school without a diploma. LGBTQ+ youth already struggle with bullying and isolation—and Republicans are just making it worse and worse in an effort to keep everyone in the closet.
It’s evil, it’s inhumane, and it’s likely going to have life-long impacts on vulnerable people who are just trying to survive.