2025 saw massive changes in a lot of domains – economic policy, technological development, international relations… and LGBTQ+ rights issues. There was a sea of difference between the policy agendas of the previous and current presidents, and Donald Trump wasted no time, often skirting the law, in implementing his policy vision.

LGBTQ+ people saw regression in many policy areas, but there were also some signs of cultural progress.

Here are the six most impactful LGBTQ+ news stories of the year, the stories that changed people’s lives and that will be remembered in future decades, for better or for worse.

6. Sarah McBride became the first out transgender person to serve in Congress

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What was the story: In 2024, Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE) was elected to represent Delaware’s at-large congressional district, and she was sworn in on January 3, 2025, along with the other new members.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) gave her a cold welcome to D.C. in late 2024, fighting to ban her from using Capitol restrooms simply because of her identity. McBride shook it off, insisting that she wanted to focus on representing her state rather than debating bathroom policy with Republicans.

Why it matters: McBride was likely the first out trans person many people at the Capitol met, and she received considerable media coverage throughout the year, portraying her as a passionate lawmaker, an engaging social media presence, and a relatable human being.

While she had no control over the bathroom policy at the Capitol since Republicans hold a majority of both chambers, she was able to exercise influence on trans issues behind the scenes. Several of her colleagues – including Reps. Mark Takano (D-CA) and Becca Balint (D-VT) – talked to the media about her work to persuade movable Republicans to support trans rights or at least leave trans people alone.

The newest LGBTQ+ members of Congress are fired up & ready to serve

5. The Supreme Court rejected Kim Davis’ attempt to overturn marriage equality 10 years after its Obergefell v. Hodges decision

What was the story: Clerk Kim Davis of Rowan County, Kentucky, has been involved in legal processes around her refusal to sign marriage licenses for same-sex couples for a decade, as Obergefell v. Hodges – the 2015 Supreme Court decision that legalized marriage equality across the country – celebrated its 10-year anniversary in June.

Davis’ latest appeal asked the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell and end marriage equality, arguing that letting same-sex couples marry is discriminatory against Christians.

In November, the Supreme Court declined to hear her appeal, ensuring that marriage equality will remain legal, at least for the near future.

Why it matters: One of the many fears that LGBTQ+ people had with the start of the second Trump administration and with the increasingly reactionary Supreme Court – which overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 – was that marriage equality would end, either at the hands of the administration, which has little regard for the law, or the Court, which has little regard for precedent.

Despite the fact that he has never supported it, the president has shown no interest in ending marriage equality in his second term. And with the Court declining to hear Davis’ appeal, it seems that the justices don’t want to touch that decision either. Several of the Court’s conservatives said as much in interviews this year.

Another anti-marriage Christian is asking federal courts to end marriage equality, also claiming that the mere existence of same-sex married couples is a form of anti-Christian discrimination. Marriage equality has been around for 10 years and has become part of the fabric of American society, but it looks like the lawsuits to end it will not be stopping anytime soon.

Kim Davis loses again: Court denies qualified immunity bid for denying gay couples marriage licenses

4. Donald Trump bans trans people from the military

What was the story: Trump signed an executive order in January banning trans people from serving in the military. The order was transparent in its transphobia, saying that trans people, because of their identities, cannot be “honorable, truthful, and disciplined.”

In May, the Supreme Court let the administration go through with removing transgender service members and banning their recruitment while lawsuits against the administration proceeded. The Defense Department moved to immediately implement the policy, which is expected to end the careers of 15,000 to 25,000 service members, according to the trans military organization SPARTA Pride.

Why it matters: The Obama administration, which also pushed Congress to end the ban on gay and bisexual people serving in the military, allowed trans people to serve openly. In his first term, Trump banned trans people from serving in the military, but his ban came several months into his first term, was originally issued on Twitter, suffered from poor implementation, and faced roadblocks in federal courts. Ultimately, trans servicemembers were able to run the clock until Joe Biden took office and ended the trans military ban.

Trump’s second military ban was implemented earlier in his administration and more competently, which is why it has already taken effect. Transphobia is a much stronger motivating force for Republicans now in the 2020s, and Trump has dispensed with any pretense of following procedures and norms for new policies.

The federal government is the largest employer in the country and is influential in determining how workers get treated in the private sector. While the administration has engaged in numerous anti-trans policies this year, this one is particularly likely to justify future discrimination.

Donald Trump bans trans people from serving in the military in hateful executive order

3. Off-year elections show that anti-trans attacks don’t work as Democrats sweep

What was the story: When Republicans won the White House and both chambers of Congress in November 2024, many on the left asked how a plurality of voters could back a convicted felon, an adjudicated sex abuser, a former president with a poor record on policy, and an increasingly demented old man to be the leader of the free world.

And many liberals blamed trans rights. While some Democrats outright said that the party should scale back its defenses of equality for trans people, others described helping trans people as a burden that the Democratic Party would have to carry.

But whatever alignment of flukes put Trump in office appears to have subsided in the months since he took office. His approval rating has cratered and, in November’s off-year elections, Democrats scored major wins across the country, including governorships in Virginia and New Jersey and the mayor’s office in New York City.

Why it matters: Republicans tried the 2024 anti-trans playbook again – sometimes using the exact language that Trump used against Kamala Harris – and still failed to win their elections. The Republican candidate for Virginia governor – Winsome Earle-Sears – went all-in on anti-trans attacks against her opponent and still lost by a large margin in November, while Democrats made gains in the state’s legislature.

New Jersey Republican Jack Ciattarelli, who has made anti-LGBTQ+ statements, also lost his election bid. Democrats also won court elections in Pennsylvania, ballot initiatives in California, and local races in Georgia. Pennsylvania even elected its first out transgender mayor.

Things are starting to look up for LGBTQ+ equality supporters if the trends continue until the 2026 midterm elections.

Democrats sweep in historic races across the country: “This is as big as it gets”

2. Supreme Court issues devastating ruling allowing Tennessee to implement its gender-affirming care ban

What was the story: In June, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that states could ban trans youth from accessing gender-affirming care, even while those same states allowed cisgender kids to access the same treatments for the same reason.

While trans advocates argued that it was discriminatory – both on the basis of sex and transgender status – to ban access to health care for trans kids, the Court’s argument was that discriminating on the basis of a gender dysphoria diagnosis is somehow different, and constitutional.

Why it matters: Over half of the states have passed gender-affirming care bans in the last five years, even though such care has been around for decades. This was part of a massive, nationwide moral panic about trans youth that Republicans have been using to rally their base for elections, and courts are the last resort to stop such discriminatory policies from being implemented.

This ruling will limit the health care that millions of trans people can access, forcing many of them to either get their care from less-than-legal sources or experience the permanent effects of the wrong puberty. Moreover, the ruling has already been used by lower courts to justify further discrimination against transgender people, including adults.

Supreme Court issues devastating ruling for trans youth in Tennessee gender-affirming care ban case

1. Donald Trump forces the federal government to do everything it can to end equal rights for trans people

What was the story: In his first day in office, Trump signed 200 executive actions, memoranda, and proclamations rolling back Biden’s policies on numerous issues, but one was particularly harmful for trans people: an executive order entitled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”

This executive order defined biological sex in terms of gametes and said that all federal departments and agencies must define gender in terms of sex assigned at birth and remove all communications that “inculcate gender ideology,” which is a fairly hostile way of describing the idea that trans people exist.

Why it matters: Throughout the year, policy after policy was issued by the federal government rolling back protections and rights for transgender people, all citing this executive order. Passports were issued with the wrong gender markers, universities were pressured to ban trans athletes, trans women were housed with male inmates… and the federal government started suing states to force them to implement the executive order, too.

This executive order is now one of the most anti-LGBTQ+ policies in the history of the country.

Donald Trump signs executive order rolling back many transgender rights & protections

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