In the United States, transgender youth have been flooding crisis lines since election of Donald Trump, who made anti-transgender themes at the heart of his campaign. Many teenagers worry about how their lives might change once he takes office.

During his presidential campaign, Trump pledged to impose broad restrictions and roll back civil rights protections for transgender students. And his administration can quickly start working on one major change: It can exclude transgender students from school. Title IX Protectionsthat affect school policies on student pronoun use, restrooms, and locker rooms.

An ad aired more than 15,000 times crystallized Trump’s position on the rights of transgender and non-binary Americans: “Kamala is for them. President Trump is for you.

To one Alabama teen, the ad seemed to portray transgender and non-binary people as a threat to society. The weekend before Election Day, the 16-year-old, who identifies as non-binary and uses the pronouns “he” and “they,” called a crisis hotline at the Rainbow Youth Project . The group that serves LGBTQ+ youth has received more than 5,500 calls to its crisis hotline in the past 10 days, compared to the 3,700 calls it typically receives each month.

The teen was desperate and struggling with suicidal thoughts, according to his mother, Carolyn Fisher. She said she didn’t realize the depth of her child’s depression and how painful it was for him to see political ads that seemed like a personal attack.

With the help of crisis counselors, Fisher said her teen started to feel better. But the bullying at school got worse, with some students telling his child that Trump was going to make him “go back into the closet,” Fisher said.

“The kids who taunted him are now proud of themselves and they point it out,” she said.

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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, America’s National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat has 988lifeline.org.

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Opposition to transgender rights was a focal point of Trump’s campaign: Republican ads attacking political opponents on transgender or LGBTQ+ issues have aired more than 290,000 times on TV networks since March 2023, data shows from media tracking company AdImpact.

The message may have resonated with many Americans. More than half of voters — and the vast majority of Trump supporters — said support for transgender rights in government and society has gone too far, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120 000 voters nationwide.

President Joe Biden’s administration this year expanded recognition of transgender rights. Interpretation of Title IXa landmark sex discrimination law, falls largely under the executive branch, although court rulings can affect its enforcement.

Originally passed in 1972, Title IX was first used as a women’s rights law. This year, the Biden administration said the law prohibits discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, but that Trump could overturn that. Biden’s new directions have had limited implementation anyway: after a wave of trialscourts had issued injunctions suspending the rule in 26 states.

“Title IX will be a top priority. “It’s emblematic of all the culture war issues that have been created over the last few years around gender identity and sex,” said Candice Jackson, an attorney who led the Department of Justice’s Office for Civil Rights. Education in the first Trump administration.

Trump also said he would ask Congress to pass a bill saying there are “only two genders” and ban hormonal or surgical procedures for transgender youth in all 50 states. Most states controlled by Republicans have already banned gender-affirming health care for transgender youth under 18 or 19, and several have adopted policies limiting school bathrooms that trans people can use.

Even if Biden’s election year guidance did not extend to transgender students in sportsTrump has promised to end sports for boys and girls only. The administration would “probably approach these questions from a traditional understanding” of what Title IX means, “with a biological, binary understanding of sex,” said Bob Eitel, who served during the first Trump administration as as senior advisor to the Secretary of Education. .

In the United States, 3.3% of high school students identify as transgender and 2.2% wonder about their gender, according to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey released last month.

The survey found that 72% of transgender teens and those questioning their gender have experienced persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness in the past year. These teens also reported higher rates of bullying at school than their peers. About one in four transgender students reported attempting suicide in the past year, the CDC said.

LGBTQ+ advocates are mobilizing to combat the despair they see growing among transgender and non-binary youth. The Rainbow Youth Project, for example, has increased virtual peer groups and town halls so LGBTQ+ youth can connect. Another organization, It Gets Better, works to reach young people online through social media platforms like Twitch and YouTube to create supportive environments even as legal protections are removed, said Brian Wenke, executive director of the band.

Across the country, especially in conservative areas, young LGBTQ+ people are wondering if it would be safer to live elsewhere.

Jude Armstrong, a transgender high school student from New Orleans, led demonstrations against Louisiana laws that regulated the use of pronouns and discussions of gender and sexuality in the classroom. With the potential for federal changes on the horizon, Armstrong, 17, said he had thought about going to school in the U.K. but was worried about leaving queer culture and history behind that he likes about him.

“How do you feel like you’re protecting your own community when you leave that community and go to another country? » he asked.

Alejandro Jimenez, a sophomore at Texas State University, dreams of becoming a theater teacher in Texas. He knows how important it is for trans kids to see someone like them in class. Today, it is not safe to stay in his country of origin.

Already, tensions have risen on his campus in ways that put him in danger. The day after the election, two protesters held signs reading: “Homosexuality is a sin” and “Women are property.”

“I think it’s my duty to stay here, but I’m afraid of being deported,” said Jimenez, who is transgender.

Under the new Trump administration, advocates fear efforts everywhere to accommodate transgender and non-binary students will face increased scrutiny. Trump’s agenda required withdraw federal funding for any school promoting “gender ideology or other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content about our children.”

“It seems really dystopian to say that trying to be more inclusive could actually result in sanctions from the federal government. But it’s a risk,” said Elana Redfield, director of federal policy at the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law.

In the face of so much uncertainty, Eli, an 18-year-old trans student in New York, emphasized the importance of community, especially online, for young people who are feeling concerned right now.

“You are not alone,” said Eli, an It Gets Better ambassador, who asked to be identified only by his first name for security reasons. “We will come out the other side. There are queer adults who have lived long and happy lives, and you will too.

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Linley Sanders contributed reporting from Washington.

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