Creating a Safe Space in the World

Members of the local queer community respond to anti-trans executive orders

“It felt like the first domino falling in a series of dominos that are going to be affecting our community.”

This is what Sam from Traverse City says of their response to the White House’s Jan. 20 executive order declaring the government will only recognize two biological sexes and rejecting any other gender identity.

Sam is nonbinary and says that they interpreted the order to mean “I don’t exist as a human, based on what the executive branch of my government said.”

But Sam isn’t accepting that viewpoint. “I’m going to exist as a human,” they told us. “I’m going to exist loudly and unapologetically … We’re going to work the network that we have to create a safe space in the world.”

A Sign of Things to Come

Jocelyn, who is transgender, had a similar reaction to the new legislation.

“It was almost like that scene in Jurassic Park when the water in the glass starts shaking,” she says. “It’s not immediately dangerous, but you know it is a sign of things to come.”

To date in his second term, President Trump has signed at least three executive orders removing protections for transgender citizens. (See the below for more details on these orders.) Adrienne Brown-Reaser, executive director for Traverse City’s Up North Pride, is concerned these orders are only the tip of the iceberg.

“I’ve always been a look-on-the-bright-side kind of person, but realistically, I do feel like more is coming,” she says. “I think the fact that there are these very big, sweeping orders and declarations made right in the first week, it is kind of setting the tone.”

Across the country, legislative efforts against the LGBTQ+ community have been ramping up in recent years. In 2024, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) reported 533 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the U.S.—up from 510 in 2023 and 315 in 2022. So far in 2025, they are tracking 245, some of which carried over from the previous year.

Brown-Reaser does see some bright spots, primarily that the state of Michigan has already enshrined many rights for LGBTQ+ citizens.

“We do live in a state that does have certain protections built in and have been voted on and signed into law,” she says. “So in some regards, it’s like, well, yes, it’s happening at the federal level, but at the state level, we know these things to be true. That’s been good to have that reassurance.”

Rights, Fears, and the Future

Still, Brown-Reaser is keeping a close eye on what comes out of the White House. She points to same-sex marriage already being in the crosshairs, as Republican legislators in Idaho recently called on the Supreme Court to reverse the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges ruling of 2015.

“We’d like to think that as soon as a right is given to us, it’s our right. But it happened with Roe v. Wade, so it’s really hard to not think that it could happen. We’ve only had [marriage equality] for 10 years.”

For Sam and Jocelyn, there are more immediate fears related to physical safety and mental health.

“My biggest fear is the emboldenment of other people to continue to perpetrate violence,” Sam tells us. “If I’m not a ‘person,’ then [in their eyes] I don’t deserve the same rights as a human and the same protections as a person. … It’s not a new reality that we’ve had to live with or come to terms with as a community; it is part of our history and now it’s part of our present.”

Jocelyn adds that while she’s “seen the community reach out to each other more” in the past few weeks, she also sees her trans friends “struggling more and more with every executive order that gets released.”

Finally, Brown-Reaser warns that the harm done to the transgender or LGBTQ+ communities could only be the beginning.

“It really, truly is scary to think there’s a very select group of people that are going to continue to be protected,” she says, noting that people of different races and religions could soon face parallel situations. “Just because you may not be under the queer heading, that doesn’t mean that you are totally free from any of these [executive orders] affecting you.”

Showing Support

While the situation seems far from hopeful for all three people we spoke to, they each say that they’ve seen good come from the bad, too.

“We are seeing more individuals come out and say, ‘How can I help?’” Brown-Reaser says. “I’ve met with a few donors and sponsors in the last week, and no one has had any sort of pushback or even said, ‘well, we need to wait and see.’ … The support here, if anything, I think it’s ramped up.”

Sam suggests people “give to organizations that are supporting fighting legislation like this.” Jocelyn concurs, mentioning Up North Pride and the ACLU specifically. They both also recommend supporting LGBTQ+ artists and business owners, and Brown-Reaser adds that UNP’s Resource Directory has a list of vetted, safe organizations, businesses, and services.

But Jocelyn says you can still show your support without spending a dime.

“I think the biggest thing [you] can do to support the LGBTQ+ community is to stand up to people who try to put us down,” she says. “Nothing is sweeter than when somebody reaches out to a person in the queer community when they themselves are not in the community. It makes us feel like, ‘okay, there are people who care about us even when they don’t have any skin in the game.’”

For Sam, the takeaway from the past few weeks is even simpler.

“Continue to be kind to one another. It’s disheartening that Christians are espousing these things that I just don’t know align with what I learned in Catholic school growing up,” Sam says. Despite being open about their identity, Sam says they always “heard a message of love and acceptance and loving their neighbor and taking care of the … disenfranchised among us.”

“I just hope that we can get back to a sense of togetherness and kindness,” Sam concludes.

Find Up North Pride, their events, and their Resource Directory at upnorthpride.com. Photo by Lil Jes Photography

The Executive Orders

The first executive order (EO) related to gender was signed by President Trump on Jan. 20. It is called the “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” and first purports to be protecting women from men who “self-identify as women and gain access to intimate single-sex spaces and activities designed for women,” then states that “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female.” The order also attacks the concept of “gender ideology” and denies that gender can be separated from biological sex.

According to EO 14158, “‘Female’ means a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the large reproductive cell” and “‘Male’ means a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the small reproductive cell.”

On Jan. 27, Trump signed EO “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” which states, “it is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.” Those procedures include the use of puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries for those under age 19.

Also on Jan. 27, Trump signed EO “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” which claims “Consistent with the military mission and longstanding DoD policy, expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service,” essentially banning nonbinary and transgender troops from serving openly in the military.

This order revokes EO 14004, “Enabling All Qualified Americans to Serve Their Country in Uniform” issued by President Biden in January 2021 that stated, “It is my conviction as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces that gender identity should not be a bar to military service.”

Trump has also ordered all federal employees remove their pronouns from their email signatures.

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