Under the Trump Administration, trans Americans are fearing for their health and safety more than ever, and some are taking precautions like arming themselves to be prepared for the worst.
According to LGBTQ Nation, “Animosity toward trans people in the U.S. is at an all-time high. President Trump has signed a laundry list of executive orders rolling back transgender rights, including one that says, in the eyes of the federal government, trans people don’t exist. Trump has vilified trans people with rhetoric that casts them as a threat to women and children, and during the campaign he made it a promise to get rid of so-called ‘transgender insanity.’”
Ironically, the biggest threat for women in children in the U.S. are men. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), each year approximately 500,000 women are physically assaulted or raped.
Transgender people are statistically four times more likely to endure violent crimes than cisgender people, according to the UCLA Williams Institute. Perpetrators of violent crimes against transgender people, cisgender women, and children, are largely cisgender men.
The Williams Institute also reports that nearly three-quarters of trans people in the U.S. fear physical violence.
LGBTQ Nation spoke with a transgender woman named Aeryn, a Marine Corps vet who has been stockpiling hormone replacement therapy and ammunition since Trump’s win in November. She fears how far the administration will go. “I think it’s quite likely the administration will at least try to say being transgender is a mental health condition,” she said. The biggest concern? That the Trump Administration will place transgender people under government-sanctioned control. To further protect herself, Aeryn is moving from a red state to a blue one, a reality not just for many LGBTQ+ people, but those who are pro-choice.
Aeryn is a member of Trump 2.0 Pink Pistols, an international LGBTQ gun rights organization which has reported that over 20 local chapters have been recreated or revitalized since November, 2024. Erin Palette, Pink Pistols national coordinator and the founder of Operation Blazing Sword said “There’s definitely been a lot of interest and a lot of concern over what’s going on in the government.” Operation Blazing Sword teaches queer people firearm safety basics, proper shooting techniques, and gun care and maintenance.
With the Trump Administration taking aim at trans folks, trans people are busy preparing to protect themselves.
