As part of LGBTQ Nation’s January issue, we asked readers to tell us how one year of the second Trump administration has affected their lives and what they hope LGBTQ+ leaders and allies do differently in 2026.

We received dozens of submissions and will be sharing them throughout the month.

Related

Transphobia backfired at the ballot box last year. Has the culture-war rhetoric lost its power?

Yarrow Brown, a 37-year-old nonbinary, intersex, AroAce person, spoke about the physical ailments they have suffered as a result of Trump-related panic. This year, they hope to see more allies step up.

Here’s what they had to say.

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How has living under the second Trump administration affected you personally over the last year?

I am an intersex nonbinary man. I first realized that I was transgender in late 2014 when I was in the midst of my internship for my master’s in social work. Since then, I have delved deep into myself, both emotionally and spiritually, and discovered who I was truly meant to be. I started testosterone in 2023, and while I do enjoy the physical changes it has brought me, I mainly feel a deep sense of peace and “rightness” in my mind. 

This changed as soon as Trump was sworn in.

I have developed chronic pain from the stress of living through this administration. I grind my teeth from anxiety, resulting in neck and jaw pain. I sought the help of my primary care office in August, who insisted that I needed to calm down.

The thing is, even though I live in New York, a blue state, my autism makes me hyperempathetic, and my pagan faith makes me desperately wish that the USA could maintain a sense of frith (an ancient concept in which all members of a community look after each other’s well-being).

I am a druid, and as such, I feel committed to maintaining the energetic health of my community. In a mundane capacity, I am the founder and owner of a nonprofit program for the transgender community, and I try my best to provide what it needs. Needless to say, it has suffered greatly.

What do you hope to see from LGBTQ+ leaders and allies in 2026?

There is virtually no discussion on the rights of intersex or nonbinary individuals, and that needs to change.

According to the presidential decree, I have been effectively rendered legally nonexistent. 

Like in the recent article you posted, I am a transmasculine individual who feels left behind in the fight for reproductive rights. I have survived endometriosis and have had a total hysterectomy, yet the language of the pro-choice movement often erases me. 

Last but not least, I need allies in my community to give a damn. We are mostly forced to speak for ourselves, and that puts us at immense risk. The current administration vows to use the FBI against those it deems “dangerous,” and that includes transgender activists like myself.

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