Opinion: The Trump administration is trying to erase queer youths from American life

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes a mix of guest commentaries online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

•••

In April 2024, I joined my fellow U.S. Department of Education (ED) officials for a listening session with transgender and nonbinary students in observance of Transgender Day of Visibility. Our goal was to listen and learn from students’ experiences during a time of increased hostility toward LGBTQIA2S+ Americans, and the students’ determination to live openly and learn without fear inspired agency officials. As a gay civil servant, I walked away resolute in my commitment to ensuring every student feels safe attending school in this country.

[Opinion editor’s note: For readers who are unfamiliar with the full acronym LGBTQIA2S+, the characters after LGBT refer to queer or questioning; intersex; asexual; two-spirit people; and the final “+” is meant to encompass all gender identities and orientations.]

This spring, current Education Secretary Linda McMahon hosted her own listening session. Advertised as a “De-Trans Awareness Day” event, she invited conservative parents’ rights advocates and de-transition groups to her office to amplify skepticism and fear about trans children. McMahon eschewed any hopeful tone in ED’s official news release about the event, implying that trans people don’t really exist and claiming without evidence that teachers are coercing students into having gender confirmation surgery.

What a difference one year makes.

President Donald Trump’s fixation on transgender women gets ample attention, but his administration’s most harmful actions often come as changes to administrative policy and practice. You may not always notice these changes amid the daily news deluge, but they have disastrous consequences for LGBTQIA2S+ youth (about 1 in 4 Gen Z young people).

The administration’s opening salvos included existential threats: refusing to recognize transgender people’s existence and removing key civil rights protections based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. It’s an unsettling feeling, especially for young people still trying to understand themselves while deciding who they want to become.

A recent Trevor Project survey asked LGBTQIA2S+ youth about the best way for adults to show support and acceptance. Their most common response? To simply trust that the young people know who they are. A majority surveyed said affirming spaces at school are more important than affirming spaces at home, and we know a relationship with a trusting adult can improve mental health and academic outcomes. What makes the Trump administration’s actions so appalling, then, is that they aren’t simply ignoring LGBTQIA2S+ students — they are directly attacking the support systems these young people say they need to survive.

Creating the fundamental conditions for queer youths to thrive at school requires inclusive policy language and strong legal protections. By questioning the very existence of trans people and removing inclusive language about LGBTQIA2S+ people from websites, regulations, guidance, forms and other communications, the Trump administration is making it more difficult to teach and support queer students.

Imagine a high school freshman who discloses he’s bisexual during class. Afterward, a peer uses a homophobic slur and shoves him. A teacher sees the incident, but does nothing. Over time, things worsen. The student begins skipping class out of fear, and his father asks the principal to do something to make sure his son can learn safely. No action is taken, and the bullying continues. During the Biden administration, the family could file a complaint with the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to ensure the school provides equal educational access to their child.

Not anymore.

Weakening civil rights protections for queer students was a key strategy in Project 2025, and the OCR has been rendered “useless” after the so-called Department of Government Efficiency’s firing sprees. Student complaints filed for discrimination based on sexual orientation are now often dismissed without an investigation. The Education Department has further siphoned taxpayer dollars by opening a “Title IX Special Investigations Unit” to expedite its anti-trans cases, including fast-tracked investigations into the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota State High School League after a trans athlete played in a softball tournament.

While reinterpreting civil rights laws can seem abstract, grants and programs affecting all students’ daily lives have been canceled using LGBTQIA2S+ students as the excuse. Acknowledging homophobia was noted by the Education Department as a reason for canceling $600 million in grants to train new teachers, including $6.8 million to train new special education teachers here in Minnesota. The national suicide prevention hotline will no longer offer specialized support to queer youths despite their higher attempted suicide rates. Active grants providing school-based mental health programs were canceled for including trans students. Technical assistance programs for local schools to achieve their goals – such as combating chronic absenteeism or increasing literacy achievement – were likely defunded because conservative commentator Christopher Rufo was offended that a program facilitator suggested educators avoid using gendered language when addressing students.

We should recognize this administration’s actions for what they are: attempts to humiliate LGBTQIA2S+ youth and isolate them from a general population that often misunderstands them. Public opinion toward our community has shifted in recent years, and Trump is relying on our ignorance and apathy.

This is not to say LGBTQIA2S+ students don’t have support. Resources stripped from government websites have been preserved by savvy advocates. While some former allies are slinking away, others are doubling down. People are successfully organizing against book bans to ensure queer students see and celebrate themselves in the library books they read.

It isn’t enough. If you believe all students should be treated with dignity, you can do something today to bring us closer to that goal. Practice trusting that queer young people in your life know themselves. Ensure those young people know their rights at school. Ask your child’s teachers about using affirming (and age-appropriate) books, media and curriculum. Ensure your district’s digital safety policies reflect the lived reality facing LGBTQIA2S+ students online.

The Trump administration may seek to make queer youths avatars for our fear, but they will fail. They will fail because efforts to silence and erase our community always fail. We have always existed, and we’ll always exist. With increased awareness and active allyship, we can not only minimize harm but ensure LGBTQIA2S+ students feel valued for who they truly are and remain free to learn.

Anil B. Hurkadli served as a presidential appointee at the U.S. Department of Education in the Biden-Harris administration. He lives in Minneapolis.