The New Reality

As LGBT people we woke up to a new reality yesterday morning and if the Republicans keep their promise the federal government will not recognize our gender or marriage. So what are the areas of concern for us?

Transgender advocates fear reversal of civil rights under Trump
Reuters
By Daniel Trotta
November 9, 2016

Transgender advocates vowed on Wednesday to resist any effort to reverse or slow down an expansion of transgender rights made under President Barack Obama, fearing a rollback of his directives once Donald Trump succeeds him in the White House.

During his eight years in the Oval Office, Obama championed lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights, and Democrat Hillary Clinton had promised to keep fighting for them if she was elected.

Same-sex marriage became legal in 2015, shifting the LGBT discussion to the still-unfinished agenda of transgender rights. Obama has issued regulations prohibiting health insurers from denying coverage based on gender identity and directed public schools to allow transgender students to use the public bathrooms of their choice, among other measures.

"We expect that those will disappear," said Rachel B. Tiven, chief executive of Lambda Legal, a leading gay rights group. "Lambda Legal will hold the line when our rights are under attack. We know how to fight the government in the courts."

Trump sent mixed messages on transgender rights during the campaign. But he promised to nominate a conservative justice to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court and could name an attorney general who may enforce hard-line positions Trump outlined during the campaign.

The Logo website NewNowNext had this to say about our areas of concern,

What A Trump Presidency Means For The LGBT Community
Spoilers: It ain't good.
By  Dan Avery
November 9, 2016

1. Marriage Equality
It’s hard to know how Donald Trump will address marriage equality in his presidency: He’s been firmly against it since 2000, when he said “the institution of marriage should be between a man and a woman.”

And in a January appearance on Fox News, he lamented the Supreme Court’s ruling on Obergefell v. Hodges, suggesting he would “be very strong on putting certain judges on the bench that I think maybe could change things.”

2. Anti-LGBT Discrimination
Trump has pledged to sign the First Amendment Defense Act, which protects discrimination on religious grounds and prohibits the government from taking action against anyone who “believes or acts in accordance with a religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman.”

3. Hate Violence
In his convention speech in Cleveland, Trump called on the specter of the Pulse nightclub shooting, promising, “As your president, I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology.”

What he’d do against hateful native ideology is another matter. It is doubtful, though, he will encourage stronger hate-crime data collection and laws.

4. Trans Rights
Trump has promised to nominate Supreme Court justices in the model of Antonin Scalia, one of the high court’s most homophobic jurists. With Gavin Grimm’s case coming before the court next year, that doesn’t bode well for the transgender community.

Mike Pence, meanwhile, has also vowed an “immediate” review of executive orders issued by President Obama—including, presumably, his directive to schools to allow students to use facilities matching their gender identity.

5. HIV/AIDS
Trump has not issued a policy statement about addressing HIV/AIDS in America or worldwide. Governor Pence, however, cut AIDS spending in Indiana and slashed the budget of the state Planned Parenthood, the only provider of education and prevention tools in some parts of the state.

And I would add the defunding of Planned Parenthood, in states that have cut their funding, the rate of STDs have increased to epidemic proportions in some areas.

5. Conversion Therapy
The GOP campaign platform has been widely criticized as the most anti-LGBT in the party’s history—among its planks

Mike Pence also supports the debunked efforts to “cure” LGBT people: On his campaign website, he wrote “Resources should be directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior.”

The future does not look good for us.

So what can we do to prepare for when President-elect Trump is sworn in on January 20?

What to Do If You’re Trans and Live in America Now
Some things you can do before this next administration settles in.
The Mary Sue
By Jessica Lachenal
November 9th, 2016

Right up front: last night was more than heartbreaking. It was earth-shattering.

There’s no gentle way to say it, so here it is: if you’re trans, you can probably expect your world to change–if it hasn’t already. Last night, Trump’s running partner, Mike Pence (who firmly believes that you can electrocute gay children into being straight) promised that this administration would be repealing and rolling back many of the LGBT protections put in place by Obama. While many LGB people have much to fear, I mean it when I say trans people in particular will more than likely be made to suffer at the hands of this administration.

Pence, in delivering this promise, specifically cited bathroom laws, saying (via PinkNews) “the transgender bathroom issue can be resolved with common sense at the local level.” He went on to say, “This is such an example of an administration that seems to have… there’s no area of our lives too small for them to want to regulate, no aspect of our constitution too large for them to ignore.”
[…]
If you can, get your passport. More importantly, get it with your correct gender marker and name. It’s complicated now, but it’s more than likely to become nigh impossible when the full brunt of this upcoming administration kicks in. If you haven’t looked into this at all yet, the National Center for Transgender Equality has a helpful guide that may help.

In short, you need:

• a letter from your physician attesting to the fact that you’re undergoing “medical transition”
• Note that for some physicians, being on Hormone Replacement Therapy is enough to obtain this letter, but it’s not enough for all.
• a court order/decree with proof of your name change (if you went through the court to do this).

In my own experience, the original decree was required, but returned to me as soon as my application was done.

In addition to the above, I’m sorry to also say you also need money. There is absolutely a sense of privilege pervading this process, and obtaining a passport isn’t cheap, but it is one of the few documents that you can hold that will allow you to travel unabated both within and outside the country. Given the changing laws around identification documentation and how driver’s licenses will soon not be enough to travel with (in some states), a passport is essential.

If you receive healthcare through the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), then you face a risk of losing not just your source of hormones (or other medically-needed drugs), but also your healthcare in general. Trump’s made it clear that he has no love for the ACA, and with a GOP majority Senate and House behind him, chances are we’re going to lose the ACA.

Also in doubt is Medicare, there is no law requiring coverage for us, it is only by CMS ruling which could be overturned.

In addition, if you can change your gender markers with Social Security and Medicare do so now because in the future you might not be able to change them without surgery.

I also wonder about our military personnel who came out what will happen to trans, lesbian, and gay service members who came out under the repeal of Do Not Ask Do Not Tell or the lifting of trans exclusionary policies?

Yes, the outlook is bleak and only time will tell how many of these dire consequences will happen.

If you need to talk to someone her are some hotline phone numbers.