What a Second Trump Term Means for LGBTQIA Rights

Trump’s first term (2016-2020) was littered with anti-LGBTQIA rhetoric and policies. This included banning trans and HIV+ service members from the military, allowing housing shelters to deny help to gender non-conforming people and issuing an executive order to make it harder for refugees escaping anti-LGBTQIA regimes across the world.

Throughout his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump has continued to use anti-LGBTQIA language and promised a variety of policies that would roll back protections and rights for the community. A particular target has been the trans community, about which he has spread lies, including that schools are forcing children to undergo sex-change operations.

Now that he has been elected, what does a second term mean for LGBTQIA rights?

A de facto ban on talking about sexuality and gender in schools

As part of his campaign, Trump has pledged to cut the funding for “any school program pushing Critical Race Theory or gender ideology”. This essentially means that any school discussing gender identity and supporting the self-identification of trans and gender non-conforming students will see a dramatic decrease in financial support from the federal government, as would any that discussed systemic racism within the US.

Federal funding often pays teachers salaries and for after-school programs. In impoverished areas, where the majority of schools’ funding come from the federal government, this could result in teacher cutbacks, an extremely limited curriculum and a steep reduction in teacher training. As such, gender-affirming support could become a thing reserved for the wealthy.

He has also promised to fight for “patriotic education” that will promote the “nuclear family” with a particular emphasis on one mother and one father. In short, President Trump would like all schools to teach students that a family does not include same-sex parents. Teachers that don’t comply with this and his administration’s views on trans rights could also be charged with civil rights violations.

Rollback on trans rights

Over the course of his campaign, Trump has announced multiple policies aimed at rolling back the protections for the trans community set up by the Biden administration. This includes reversing the ban on preventing trans students from using single-sex spaces, such as bathrooms and changing rooms, that align with their gender identity, which the new president previously said he’d do on his first day in office.

He has also said he would block doctors who provide gender-affirming care from Medicare and Medicaid, which would result in dramatic increases in prices. In addition, he has likened gender-affirming care to “child abuse”, whipping up transphobia in key republican states.

Meanwhile, Vice President Vance sponsored a 2023 bill that would ban access to gender-affirming care and another which would stop the State Department from allowing passports to show genders outside of male and female.

Greater discrimination against intersex and trans athletes

Trump has vowed to “keep men out of women’s sports”. It is fairly safe to assume this is referring to trans and intersex women who are participating in women-only events. It is not clear how he intends to do this but the end result will inevitably be greater anti-trans and anti-intersex policies in American sport.

Little condemnation of parents seeking conversion therapy for their child

In 2016, the platform published by the Republican Party endorsed conversion therapy for LGBTQIA children. Trump and the party removed this language, and that which opposed same-sex marriage, from the 2024 version and have used this to present themselves as supportive of the LGBTQIA community.

But it is important to note that the new platform does not seek to bar parents from seeking out conversion therapy nor does it state that it would prevent doctors and other healthcare professionals from providing it. Instead the rest of the document leans into anti-LGBTQIA rhetoric, pledging to put an end to gender-affirming healthcare and support. In addition, the new platform continues to say it “end policies that punish families”, implying there will be few consequences for anyone who seeks conversion therapy for their child.