As of fall of 2016, Donald Trump has been the President of the United States of America. As to how he accomplished this is unclear to many, but I’ve heard people attribute it to his religion, his businessman practices, his policies, and even how he became a meme in 2016. It’s a difficult thing to explain now, but imagining explaining it to people in 2004 when The Apprentice first aired does lighten things up significantly. I will always find it odd how a genuine idiot got some of the most competent and well-known politicians to back him when he was a dumpster fire from the beginning. Within months of his campaign picking up traction, a video was leaked of him admitting to sexually assaulting women just because he could. This rightfully enraged many people, including public figures, artists, musicians, anyone with a platform had something to say. Even people without legitimate platforms would tell you how they feel about Trump and his policies. To your face even if you did not ask. And by people, I mean my eighth grade history teacher. 

Trump’s administration includes some of the most infamous politicians of our day: Mike Pence, who is very unsurprisingly from Indiana, Ben Carson, the speaker of some of the wisest words ever heard to date “Because a lot of people who go into prison go into prison straight, and when they come out, they’re gay. So, did something happen while they were in there? Ask yourself that question”, and of course Betsy DeVos who rolled back several civil rights regulations and has become known as the American politics equivalent of Dolores Umbridge. The latter two are also living proof of “they will always succeed despite bigotry and misogyny by virtue of the fact that they’re involved with  white men. They’re a woman/minority that doesn’t threaten the patriarchy.”

While I would love to just rattle off as many roasts at the expense of Trump and his administration that can fill a feature length article, it’s very important to note that the 2016 election made a couple things very clear to marginalized people: your opinions matter less and so does your life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. While this does definitely include people of color, specifically immigrants, as of press time I am a white woman so I will leave such a testament to those with firsthand experiences. This is actually something I have experienced and can attest to. People really do think like that and it’s terrifying to see for yourself. 

“Nothing communicates Trump’s commitment to the past as effectively as reversals of L.G.B.T. civil-rights progress—arguably the most rapid social change in American history,” writes Masha Gessen of The New Yorker. Indeed one of the most common things you will hear from a Trump supporter is “Make America Great Again”. This has been Trump’s catchphrase from the jump, and though he is THE garbage capitalist man that we’ve all been warned about, you’ve got to hand it to him. He’s done an excellent job at creating this hypothetical perfect America where the majority stays the majority. Where no person has to be reminded of the awful things their ancestors have done to marginalized people, because they get to repeat those preset patterns without consequence. 

Trump’s administration is attempting drastic strides in reversing any Obama era protections of LGBT+ people. In 2017, House Bill 1523 (AKA The Religious Liberty Accommodations Act) was reintroduced to circuit court, and the once blocked bill that would illegalize discrimination under the basis of marriage equality and transgender rights. The US Supreme Court has since let it stand. On October 21 of 2018, the New York Times reported that the Department of Health and Human Services proposed a change to the legal definition of sex under Title IX, which defined it as an unchangable human characteristic. (You can also see every anti-LGBTQ action Trump and his administration have made here.)

Trump’s administration is not the first to attack LGBT+ rights and it probably won’t be the last, but I think the most off-putting part is that they’re doing this in a time where LGBT+ rights have already made such noticeable progress. Due to so many important figures making LGBT history back in the 70s-90s and causing legitimate changes to legislation regarding LGBT+ people, it feels very bizarre that all that a presidential administration isn’t furthering it, but cutting it off.